AN  ARMY  STORY 

R,H.MeKAY 


LITTLE  PILLS 


AN  ARMY  STORY 

BY 

R.  H.  McKAY 

Formerly  Actinf  AititUnt  Surgeon  United  Sutel  Army 


Being  Some  Experiences  of  a  United  States  Army 

Medical  Officer  on  the  Frontier  Nearly 

A  Hal!  Century  Ago 


1918 

PUBLISHED  BY 

PITTSBURG   HEADLIGHT 

riTTSBURG,  KANSAS 


STACK 
ANNEX 


FOREWORD 

BY  R.  H.  McKAY 

This  little  sketch  of  army  life  on  the  frontier  was  first 
written,  merely  for  the  pleasure  it  might  bring  to  my 
children  in  looking  it  over  in  after  years.  It  remained  in 
the  form  of  a  manuscript  for  that  purpose,  until  some  of 
my  friends  urged  its  publication.  The  merit  of  the  story 
itself,  if  if  has  any,  lies  in  the  fact  of  actual  experience, 
but  probably  a  matter  of  more  importance  is  to  call 
attention  to  the  wonderful  changes  '•hat  have  taken  place 
in  the  fifty  years  just  passed.  The  term  frontier  today 
would  be  a  misnomer.  There  is  no  frontier.  The  im- 
mense areas  of  wild  and  waste  country  that  then  existed 
has  vanished  before  the  tide  of  civilization  and  settlement. 
The  present  generation  can  never  realize  the  vast  changes. 
Possibly  this  little  book  may  bring  to  mind,  by  way  of 
contrast,  at  least  some  of  the  conditions  then  and  now. 


208130' 


LITTLE  PILLS 


CHAPTER  I. 

My  children  have  often  asked  me  to  write  out  some  of  my 
experience  while  a  medical  officer  in  the  United  States  Army  on 
the  frontier,  and  I  have  often  resolved  to  do  so.  But  for  many 
years  after  leaving  the  service  my  time  was  so  thoroughly  taken 
up  in  an  effort  to  make  a  living  and  educate  the  children  that  my 
good  resolutions  received  scant  attention.  Now  in  my  78th  year 
the  apathy  of  old  age  is  such  a  handicap,  that  great  effort  is  re- 
quired to  do  things  that  at  one  time  I  could  have  done  cheerfully 
but  did  not. 

I  think  my  experiences  during  the  Civil  War  gave  me  some- 
thing of  a  taste  for  military  duty,  for  when  in  the  summer  or 
early  fall  of  1868  I  noticed  that  an  Army  Medical  Board  was  in 
session  at  New  York,  I  at  once  madet  application  to  appear  before 
it  for  examination  for  a  position  in  the  regular  service.  I  was 
examined  in  October,  1868,  and  as  the>  board  continued  in  session 
for  some  time  afterwards  I  waited  with  some  anxiety  and  mis- 
givings as  to  the  result  of  my  examination.  I  had  the  impression 
that  the  examination  would  be  severe  and  was  doubtful  of  my 
ability  to  pass.  In  this  connection  it  is  proper  to  say  that  some 
had  failed  in  these  examinations  that  afterwards  became  noted 
medical  men.  Among  them,  I  was  informed,  was  Dr.  Austin 
Flint,  Sr.,  whose  work  on  the  practice  of  medicine  was  standard 
and  considered  the  best  when  I  was  a  student.  His  son,  Dr. 
Austin  Flint,  Jr.,  also  became  famous  as  our  great  Physiologist 
and  his  work  on  that  subject  is  standard  today.  It  was  not  until 
the  following  January  that  I  heard  from  my  examination,  and 
was  then  directed  to  report  at  St.  Louis  to  be  mustered  into  the 
service  as  Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  in  the  United  States  Army. 
There  was  necessarily  some  delay  in  disposing  of  the  few  things 
we  had,  some  of  which  we  sold  and  some  of  which  we  stored. 


8  LITTLE  PILLS 

Finally  everything  being  disposed  of,  we  left  our  home  in  Wash- 
ington, Iowa,  and  from  there,  after  a  day  with  friends,  took  a 
train  for  Burlington,  thence  to  Keokuk,  where  my  wife  remained 
visiting  relatives,  I  going  on  to  St.  Louis  to  report. 

I  was  mustered  into  the  service  January  29th,  1869,  and 
ordered  to  report  to  the  Medical  Director,  Department  of  the 
Missouri  at  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  for  assignment  to  duty.  The 
Department  of  the  Missouri  at  the  time  comprised  the  States  of 
Missouri,  Kansas,  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  The  Indian  Territory, 
and  I  think  Arkansas. 

General  Sheridan  was  the  commanding  officer  of  the  depart- 
ment at  that  time.  He  also  had  a  brother  who  was  a  captain  and 
who  was  also  stationed  at  Leavenworth.  Dr.  Miles  was  the 
Medical  Director  of  the  Department  and  Dr.  McGruder  was  Post 
Surgeon  at  Leavenworth.  I  was  on  .waiting  orders  at  Fort 
Leavenworth  for  something  over  a  month  during  which  time  I 
got  my  first  impression  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Regular  Army. 
The  officers  impressed  me  as  very  self  important,  exceedingly 
courteous  and  cordial,  and  charming  in  their  broad-gauge  views 
of  current  events  and  their  unreserved  candor  in  discussing  all 
subjects.  I  must  except  one  subject,  however,  and  that  was 
politics.  An  army  officer  is  supposed  to  have  no  politics,  or  if 
he  has  he  keeps  them  in  reserve.  Seldom  during  nearly  seven 
years  of  my  life  in  the  army  did  I  hear  politics  mentioned.  An 
army  officer  is  supposed  to  do  his  duty  regardless  of  who  holds 
political  authority  over  him,  and  this  he  does  most  loyally.  The 
enlisted  men  impressed  me  as  a  clean,  attractive  and  well  dis- 
ciplined body  of  soldiers.  Another  thing  that  impressed  me  was 
the  absolute  separation  of  the  officers  and  enlisted  men.  It  may 
be  different  now  but  at  that  time  there  seemed  to  be  nothing  of 
even  a  fraternal  interest.  The  officer  commanded  and  the  soldier 
obeyed.  In  this  way  they  seemed  as  distinct  as  oil  and  water,  and 
it  was  a  rather  surprising  contrast  to  the  volunteer  service  during 
the  war,  where  enlisted  men  and  officers  often  from  the  same 
town  and  nearly  always  from  the  same  community  fraternized 
and  often  addressed  each  other  by  their  given  names;  while  in 
the  regular  service  there  was  nothing  of  the  kind.  An  officer 


LITTLE  PILLS  9 

when  passing  an  enlisted  man  always  received  a  salute.  The  men 
or  man  standing  at  attention  when  giving  it  and  the  officer  was 
required  to  return  the  salute.  The  men  may  be  sitting  down,  say 
outside  of  their  barracks,  and  when  an  officer  approaches  and 
gets  within  a  certain  distance  they  all  rise  at  once,  stand  at 
attention,  and  give  the  salute,  and  this  is  the  extent  of  their 
relations  with  each  other. 

The  officers  mess  at  Leavenworth  was  quite  a  large  one, 
mostly  of  unmarried  men,  although  there  were  maybe  two  or 
three  married  couples,  and  was  exceedingly  cordial  and  sociable 
with  each  other.  Those  of  the  rank  of  Captain  or  higher  up  in 
rank  were  always  addressed  by  their  military  title  of  Captain  or 
Major,  as  it  might  be,  but  the  Lieutenants  were  addressed  as 
Mister,  or  by  their  surnames,  as  Mr.  Jones  or  simply  Jones. 

The  first  of  March  came  and  with  it  came  pay-day,  a  matter 
that  seemed  of  much  interest  to  the  officers.  It  did  not  take 
me  long  to  learn  its  importance  for  army  officers  at  that  time  as 
a  rule  literally  lived  up  their  salaries.  I  finally  learned  that  an 
officer  was  considered  by  many  other  officers  as  a  little  off  color 
if  he  was  close-fisted  and  tried  to  save  money  out  of  his  pay.  To 
me  it  was  a  matter  of  importance  because  I  was  poor  and  needed 
it.  I  sent  most  of  my  first  month's  pay,  after  paying  mess  bill 
and  a  few  other  necessary  expenses,  to  my  wife,  not  keeping 
enough,  as  I  afterward  learned,  for  an  emergency  that  might 
arise.  Expecting  to  be  ordered  to  some  frontier  post,  I  took  the 
precaution  to  invest  in  a  pistol,  a  very  ridiculous  thing  to  do,  as 
I  now  think  of  it.  The  further  history  of  that  pistol  will  appear 
later  on  in  this  story. 

While  at  Leavenworth  the  officers  gave  a  hop.  I  never  knew 
why  it  was  called  a  hop  instead  of  a  dance,  but  it  was  always  so 
designated  in  the  army.  Officers  came  from  other  places,  par- 
ticularly Fort  Riley,  among  whom  was  General  Custer  of  cavalry 
fame  during  the  Civil  War,  and  a  noted  Indian  fighter  on  the 
frontier.  I  watched  him  with  a  good  deal  of  interest,  for  at  that4 
time  he  was  a  distinguished  man  in  the  service,  and  I  must  say 
that  I  was  rather  disappointed  in  his  appearance.  He  seemed 
to  me  to  be  under-sized  and  slender,  and  at  first  blush  to  be 


10  LITTLE  PILLS 

effeminate  in  appearance.  Maybe  his  long  hair,  almost  reaching 
to  his  shoulders,  gave  this  impression,  but  the  face  was  something 
of  a  study  and  hard  to  describe.  Something  of  boldness  or  maybe 
dash,  a  quick  eye,  and  he  was  intensely  energetic,  giving  the 
impression  that  he  would  be  a  veritable  whirlwind  in  an  engage- 
ment. He  did  not  convey  the  idea  of  a  great  character.  He  was 
a  very  graceful  dancer.  His  career  ended  at  the  famous  battle 
in  our  Indian  warfare,  that  of  the  Little  Big  Horn.  Not  a  man  of 
his  command  escaped  to  tell  the  story. 

I  think  it  was  about  the  8th  or  9th  of  March  that  I  received 
orders  to  report  to  the  Chief  Medical  Officer,  District  of  New 
Mexico,  for  assignment  to  duty.  The  quartermaster  furnished 
transportation,  that  is  to  say,  orders  to  the  transportation  com- 
panies, railroads,  stage-lines,  etc.,  to  carry  the  officer  to  point  of 
destination.  This,  together  with  the  order  of  assignment  to 
duty,  would  carry  one  wherever  the  assignment  directed.  At 
this  time  the  so-called  Kansas-Pacific  railroad  was  built  out 
pretty  well  towards  the  west  line  of  the  state,  but  there  were  no 
transcontinental  lines  finished  until  the  following  summer.  The 
Union  and  Central  Pacifies  joining  that  year  in  Utah  in  July. 

I  left  Fort  Leavenworth  in  the  morning  and  before  night 
was  out  on  the  plains.  From  Leavenworth  to  Topeka  there  was 
some  settlement.  The  towns  as  I  remember  them  were  mere 
railroad  stations,  except  Lawrence,  which  was  more  pretentious, 
and  the  scattering  farmhouses  were  small  and  primitive  in  style. 
Topeka  seemed  to  be  something  of  a  town,  but  from  there  west 
the  country  was  only  partially  inhabited.  Fort  Hayes  stood  out 
prominently  to  the  left  of  the  railroad  but  the  whole  country 
seemed  one  great  sea  of  desolation  unlimited  in  extent.  At  that 
time  I  would  not  have  given  ten  dollars  per  square  league  for 
what  has  since  become  one  of  the  famous  wheat  fields  of  the 
country.  The  evening  of  the  second  day  we  arrived  at  a  place 
called  Sheridan  which  was  the  terminus  of  the  railroad.  It  was 
a  straggling  place  of  tents  and  wooden  shacks,  dance  halls,  bawdy 
houses,  gambling  houses  and  saloons.  Murders  were  of  frequent 
occurrence  and  it  was  considered  dangerous  to  be  on  the  street 
at  night.  There  was  only  one  street  in  the  town.  I  started  out 


LITTLE  PILLS  11 

onthis  street  about  dusk,  thinking  I  had  better  go  to  the  stage 
office  and  arrange  for  my  transportation  on  to  Santa  Fe.  The 
landlord  happened  to  notice  me  and  called  for  me  to  wait  a 
minute  and  when  he  had  joined  me  he  inquired  where  I  was  going. 
He  said  he  would  go  with  me  as  it  might  not  be  safe  for  me  to  be 
alone,  and  told  me  of  a  killing  in  front  of  the  hotel  the  night 
before. 

My  bed  that  night  was  on  the  second  story,  merely  floored, 
and  not  plastered  or  sealed,  and  the  roof  slanted  down  close  to  the 
bed.  The  space  between  the  floor  and  the  edge  of  the  roof  was 
open  and  I  could  look  down  into  the  saloon.  I  watched  the  pat- 
rons of  this  place  for  some  time  for  it  was  altogether  a  new 
experience.  The  clinking  of  glasses;  the  loud  talk;  the  dim 
lights;  and  the  thorough  abandonment  of  the  motley  crowd  re- 
mains quite  vividly  in  my  memory.  It  finally  occurred  to  me 
that  in  the  event  of  a  shooting  scrape,  even  there  in  bed  was  not 
a  very  safe  place,  so  I  edged  over  to  the  far  side  of  the  bed  and 
soon  dropped  to  sleep,  not  waking  until  called  in  the  morning. 

We  got  an  early  start  and  I  had  the  stage  mostly  to  myself 
until  we  crossed  the  Raton  spur  of  the  mountain.  The  nights 
were  chilly  and  I  was  not  over-warmly  clad,  but  I  managed  after 
the  first  night  to  get  a  fair  amount  of  sleep.  I  felt  some  fear  of 
Indians  although  it  was  tod  early  in  the  season  for  them  to  go  on 
the  war-path.  The  summer  before  had  been  a  particularly  bad 
one  on  the  plains.  Forsythe's  command  was  almost  annihilated 
in  October,  1868,  on  the  Ariskaree  Fork  of  the  Republican  river, 
and  at  every  stage  station  until  after  we  reached  Trinidad,  Colo., 
the  first  salutation  between  the  men  at  the  station  and  our  con- 
ductor was  whether  either  had  seen  any  Indians.  The  apprehen- 
sion was  not  that  the  Indians  would  go  on  the  war-path  at  that 
time  of  the  year,  because  their  ponies  could  not  exist  until  the 
grass  was  well  started,  but  that  some  of  the  venturesome  young 
bucks  might  take  it  into  their  heads  to  attack  the  stage  coach. 
I  peeked  out  of  the  coach  at  night  and  wondered  if  there  was  any 
probability  of  Indians  attacking  us  and  thought  of  my  pistol,  but 
was  not  proud  of  it,  or  of  my  ability  to  use  it. 

The  stage  stations  were  interesting  to  me.     On  the  plains 


12  LITTLE  PILLS 

proper  they  were  uniformly  built,  underground  as  far  up  as  the 
sidewalls  extended,  and  was  located  near  some  water  hole  and  at 
an  elevation  that  would  command  a  view  of  the  surrounding 
country  for  some  distance.  Above  the  dirt  walls  large  logs  were 
laid,  upon  which  the  cross  timbers  were  placed  for  supporting 
the  roof.  These  logs  were  raised  from  the  ground  enough,  say 
three  or  four  inches,  to  give  the  occupants  a  good  view  of  the 
surrounding  country,  and  an  opportunity  of  using  their  carbines 
against  attack  from  the  Indians,  with  comparative  safety  to 
themselves.  The  roof  was  covered  with  dirt.  The  stables  were 
built  the  same  way  with  underground  passages  or  open  ditches 
connected  with  the  station  proper.  Both  station  and  stable  were 
connected  in  the  same  way  with  the  water  hole.  At  these  stations 
on  the  plains  proper,  were  stationed  a  small  squad  of  soldiers, 
maybe  a  half  dozen,  under  the  command  of  a  noncommissioned 
officer,  generally  a  sergeant,  and  you  can  readily  see  that  the 
Indians  would  be  a  little  cautious  about  getting  too  near  such  a 
place  although  during  the  summer  season  they  often  attacked 
the  stage  between  stations.  The  stations  were  at  variable  dist- 
ances apart,  depending  on  the  water  supply,  generally  from  eight 
to  twenty  miles  apart,  and  were  supplied  by  government  trains 
on  their  way  to  the  military  posts  of  the  West.  There  was  not 
much  to  attract  attention  in  approaching  these  stations,  no  build- 
ing in  sight,  no  sign  of  life.  The  first  thing  you  knew  some 
one  would  hollow  "Hello!"  and  "Hello!"  would  come  back.  "Have 
you  seen  any  Indians?"  and  there  you  are.  The  last  inquiry 
was  natural  enough  when  you  consider  the  near  approach  of 
spring,  when  the  grass  would  be  green  enough  to  furnish  feed 
for  Indian  ponies.  Indians  would  not  appear  in  large  numbers 
at  this  time  of  the  year,  but  little  roving  bands,  maybe  one  or 
two  venturesome  bucks  might  be  seen  almost  daily  at  a  safe 
distance,  evidently  spying  out  the  prospects  for  more  serious 
work  later  in  the  season.  Of  course  we  got  our  meals  at  these 
stations,  consisting  generally  of  bacon,  hot  corn-bread  or  biscuit, 
a  vegetable  or  two,  and  black  coffee.  This  menus  varied  some 
after  we  crossed  the  Raton  Mountains  and  were  practically  out 


LITTLE  PILLS  13 

of  Indian  troubles,  when  we  had  a  greater  variety,  and  it  was 
better  prepared. 

We  got  to  Trinidad  late  at  night,  the  first  town  after  cross- 
ing the  plains,  and  located  just  at  the  base  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Raton  Range  near  the  Purgatory  river.  This  was  a  mining 
town  of  some  importance  in  those  days,  and  had  the  usual  quota 
of  dance  halls,  gambling  dens  and  other  equipment  of  a  typical 
mining  town. 

We  got  to  Dick  Wooton's  early  the  following  morning  and 
had  a  good  breakfast.  His  place  was  located  near  the  top  of 
Raton  Pass  and  consisted  at  that  time  of  a  rambling  lot  of  log 
buildings;  one  for  a  house  proper,  which  was  clean,  comfortable, 
and  attractive  inside,  and  the  others  for  stables,  blacksmith  and 
wagon  shops,  and  in  f act ,  anything  and  everything  where  repairs 
to  transportation  could  be  made.  Dick  himself  was  an  attractive 
personality,  was  large,  quite  above  the  average  in  sibe,  with  a 
cheery  open  j  face  giving  little  evidence  of  the  frontier  man,  and 
yet  he  was  almost  as  noted  as  Kit  Carson  with  whom  he  was 
associated  as  pioneer  and  scout.  Both  were  noted  men  on  the 
frontier.  Wooton,  however,  took  a  more  practical  view  of  life 
than  Carson  and  conceived  the  idea  of  building  a  wagon  road 
over  the  Raton  Pass.  This  road  was  completed  and  I  think  had 
been  for  some  time  before  I  crossed  the  pass.  If  I  remember 
correctly  we  crossed  a  little  stream  coming  down  from  near  the 
top  of  the  range  thirteen  times  before  we  came  to  the  top  of  the 
pass.  Wooton  had  some  kind  of  permit  or  authority  from  the 
government  for  building  this  read  and  was  authorized  to  make  it 
a  toll  road.  He  was  reported  to  have  made  quite  a  fortune  from 
the  revenue  derived  from  it. 

A  little  place  called  Cimarron,  (which  in  Spanish  means 
mountain  of  sheep)  or  Maxwell's  ranch  was  the  next  place  of 
interest  to  me.  This  is  some  distance  south  of  the  Raton  Range, 
maybe  half  way  from  Trinidad  to  Fort  Union.  It  seemed  that 
Maxwell  married  a  high  class  Spanish  woman  whose  family  owned 
an  immense  estate  in  what  was  Mexico  before  it  was  ceded  to  the 
United  States.  In  the  division  of  the  estate  Maxwell's  wife  got  a 
grant  of  many  thousands  of  acres  on  the  head  waters  of  the 


14  LITTLE  PILLS 

Cimarron,  a  tributary  of  the  Canadian,  which  I  understand  was 
very  much  reduced  as  a  result  of  extended  litigation  with  the 
government  as  to  title.  We  traveled  for  miles  on  what  was  then 
called  Maxwell's  Ranch,  where  great  herds  of  sheep,  cattle  and 
horses  were  to  be  seen,  with  an  adobe  house  here  and  there, 
where  herders  lived.  It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  stop  even  for  one 
meal  at  such  a  place  as  Maxwell's.  The  house  was  commodious 
and  hndsomely  furnished  and  everything  was  prosperous  and 
home-like.  Some  years  later  I  had  the  pleasure  of  acquaintance 
of  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Maxwell's  who  married  al  ieutenant  in  the 
army  and  we  were  serving  at  the  same  post. 

We  passed  Fort  Union  in  the  night  and  I  did  not  get  to  see 
much  of  it,  i  but  I  understand  it  to  be  only  a  military  post  and 
base  of  supplies,  for  the  Quarter-Master  or  Commissary  De- 
partment of  the  army  for  the  District  of  New  Mexico. 

My  first  view  of  Las  Vegas  (The  Meadows,  in  Spanish)  was 
over  a  beautiful  wide  valley,  some  three  or  four  miles  across, 
through  which  a  pretty  little  stream  of  water,  the  source  of  the 
Pecos, river,  was  wending  its  way.  The  view  was  beautiful  and 
the  town  looked  to  be  a  place  of  importance,  but  proved  to  be 
disappointing  on  a  closer  acquaintance. 

Not  far  from  Las  Vegas  we  passed  what  was  called  the  old 
Pecos  church.  It  was  only  a  little  distance  from  the  road  and 
said  to  have  been  built  in  the  seventeenth  century.  It  stood 
alone  in  its  desolation  and  had  partially  fallen  into  decay.  The 
room  was  off,  the  walte  partly  broken  down  and  it  looked  to  be  as 
old  as  reported. 

We  arrived  in  Santa  Fe  late  in  the  evening  and  stopped  at  the 
hotel  or  fonda,  as  it  is  called  in  Spanish.  At  first  one  feels 
that  he  is  in  a  different  country;  something  foreign  and  out  of 
the  usual,  and  this  feeling  grows  with  closer  acquaintance.  For 
instance  you  go  direct  from  the  street  to  your  room  if  your  wife 
is  with  you,  or  to  a  kind  of  a  lobby  or  sitting  room  with  a  bar 
at  one  side  if  alone. 

I  was  thankful  that  the  stage  ride  was  ended.  We  had  been 
going  night  and  day  since  leaving  the  railroad  at  Sheridan,  Kans., 
a  distance  of  nearly  four  hundred  miles,  and  although  I  had  the 


LITTLE  PILLS  15 

stage  to  myself  most  of  the  way,  one  passenger  got  on  at  Cimar- 
ron  that  I  will  feel  grateful  to  the  balance  of  my  days,  and  from 
Fort  Union  to  Santa  Fe  the  coach  was  crowded  all  the  way.  The 
stage  lines  in  those  days  had  a  conductor  who  went  to  the  end  of 
the  route,  much  as  our  railroad  conductors  do  today,  while  the 
drivers  like  our  engineers,  only  went  to  what  might  be  called 
division  points,  say  twelve-hour  trips. 

The  conductor  has  charge,  and  is  responsible  for  the  United 
States  mail  and  the  express  packages  which  are  carried  in  what 
is  called  the  front  boot,  and  where  the  conductor  curls  up  among 
the  mail  sacks  and  packages  and  sleeps  at  night.  The  back  boot 
is  devoted  to  baggage.  Inside  there  are  generally  two  seats 
facing  each  other  and  wide  enough  for  three  persons  if  not  too 
big,  on  each  seat.  The  stage  coach  had  a  great  swinging  body 
resting  on  two  immense  leather  straps  for  springs,  one  on  each 
side  underneath  and  extending  from  front  to  back.  These  flex- 
ible springs  gave  the  coach]  an  easy  side  swing  and  it  was  not  a 
particularly  unpleasant  thing  to  ride  in. 

Having  arrived  in  Santa  Fe  late  Saturday  evening  I  did  not 
report  until  next  morning,  and  about  noon  an  orderly  brought  to 
the  hotel  my  orders  from  the  Chief  Medical  officer  directing  me 
to  report  to  the  commanding  officer  at  Fort  Selden,  New  Mex., 
for  assignment  to  duty.  This  was  startling  news,  for  Fort  Selden 
was  the  last  military  post  before  reaching  the  Mexican  border 
and  I  had  only  $.2.50  in  my  pocket  and  my  hotel  bill  to  pay. 
Being  new  in  the  service  and,  something  of  a  tenderfoot  I  did  not 
want  to  go  to  the  other  officers  for  help.  I  left  my  room  and 
went  down  to  the  hotel  lobby  and  among  others  who  were  there 
was  the  gentleman  who  got  on  the  stage  at  Cimarron.  We  had 
traveled  together  from  Cimarron  to  Santa  Fe  with  hardly  the 
exchange  of  the  usual  courtesies.  I  was  not  a  good  mixer  and  he 
had  nothing  to  say,  but  my  case  was  very  desperate.  I  had  to 
talk  to  someone  so  I  asked  if  he  was  acquainted  in  Santa  Fe  and 
he  said  "some."  I  told  him  my  troubles  and  that  I  had  a  good 
watch  and  a  good  pistol  (that  pistol  was  a  hoodoo  by  this  time) 
that  I  would  put  up  as  security  for  a  few  dollars  to  pay  my  ex- 
penses on  the  way  to  Fort  Selden.  He  said:  "Well,  nobody  would 


16  LITTLE  PILLS 

give  you  anything  for  them  things.  If  I  had  the  money  I  would 
let  you  have  it."  This  in  a  rather  slow  drowning  voice.  I  took 
this  as  a  matter  of  course.  Anybody  would  talk  the  same  way, 
I  thought,  whether  they  had  it  or  not. 

Dinner  was  soon  ready.  The  dining  room  was  away  to  the 
rear  end  of  this  somewhat  rambling  hotel  building.  We  passed 
through  a  billiard  hall  and  maybe  some  store  rooms  before  reach- 
ing it.  I  think,  however,  there  was  a  different  route  for  the 
ladies.  I  suppose  the  dinner  was  good  but  do  not  remember 
much  about  it.  I  do  remember,  however,  on  the  way  back 
through  the  pool  hall  I  stopped  to  glance  around  the  room  which 
was  a  very  long  one  with  many  tables  and  many  players.  The 
second  table  away  became  very  interesting  to  me  for  near  it 
stood  my  man  of  short  acquaintance  apparently  talking  to  one  of 
the  players,  a  large  fine  looking  man  who,  laying  his  cue  across 
the  corner  of  the  table,  pulled  out  such  a  wad  of  bills  as  I  had 
never  seen  before  and  commenced  counting  out  the  money  to  my 
newly  made  acquaintance.  I  passed  and  went  up  to  my  room 
wondering  if  he  would  keep  his  word,  now  that  he  had  the  money. 
I  tried  to  read  but  made  poor  headway.  Pretty  soon  there  was 
a  light  tap  on  the  door  and  I  said  "come  in."  The  door  opened 
and  there  was  my  new  found  friend  who  took  a  seat  in  a  rather 
deliberate  way  and  said  nothing.  I  made  some  remark  about 
the  weather  which  seemed  to  meet  his  approval  but  directly  he 
asked  me :  "About  how  much  money  do  you  think  you  will  need  ?" 
I  told  him  I  thought  about  twenty  dollars  would  be  enough.  He 
brought  from  his  pocket  a  great  bunch  of  bank  notes  and  counted 
out  twenty  dollars  and  handed  it  to  me.  When  I  offered  my 
security  he  politely  turned  them  down  saying  he  would  take 
chances.  When  I  asked  him  if  he  had  never  lost  money  that 
way  he  replied,  "Yes,  some."  And  when  I  said  I  would  feel  better 
myself  if  he  would  take  something  to  make  himself  safe  he  said, 
"Oh  no,  I'll  take  chances."  When  next  I  inquired  about  his 
knowledge  of  Santa  Fe  and  the  west  generally  he  became  more 
communicative  and  informed  me  that  he  had  spent  all  his  life 
from  a  youngster  as  a  prospector,  sometimes  striking  it  good 
and  selling  out  and  trying  it  again;  sometimes  having  plenty  of 


SAT ANT A 

War  Chief  of  the  Kiowas 

Original   in   our  possession,  taken   by  Soule, 

of  Boston,  -while  we  were  stationed 

at  Fort  Sill 


LITTLE  PILLS  17 

money,  and  at  other  times  having  nothing.  Someone  else  would 
then  furnish  him  a  "grub-stake"  as  he  called  it  with  which  to  try 
again.  He  and  his  partners  had  just  sold  out  a  gold  mine  at 
Cimarron  and  I  presume  the  money  I  saw  him  receive  from  the 
big  man  at  the  pool  table  was  part  of  the  proceeds  of  that  sale. 
He  finally  asked  me  if  I  cared  to  walk  about  the  town  some.  I 
think  I  would  have  gone  with  him  anywhere,  so  I  responded  very 
promptly  that  I  would  like  to.  The  town  was  utterly  strange  to 
me,  so  different  from  anything  I  had  ever  seen:  adobe  walls, 
adobe  houses,  and  the  people  were  as  strange  looking  as  the 
houses.  The  women  wore  some  kind  of  a  wrap  over  their  head 
called  a  mantilla  (pronounced  man-tee-ya,  with  the  accent  on 
the  second  syllable)  leaving  a  little  open  space  for  onee  ye  to  peep 
out  at  people  they  met,  and  the  men  with  the  wide  brimmed, 
high  peaked  hats  that  I  afterwards  learned  are  the  universal  cos- 
tumes of  the  Mexican  people.  After  looking  around  a  bit  my 
companion  asked  me  if  I  would  like  to  see  a  cock-fight.  Sure 
thing,  of  course  I  would,  although  having  been  raised  a  strict 
Scotch  Presbyterian  I  felt  some  qualms  of  conscience  about  wit- 
nessing such  an  exhibition  on  the  "Sabbath." 

The  amphitheater  in  which  the  exhibition  was  given  was 
without  cover  and  enclosed  by  a  high  adobe  wall.  It  was  crowd- 
ed with  men  and  women,  mostly  Mexicans,  in  gala  dress,  some 
very  richly  dressed  women  and  some  whose  attire  attested  pov- 
erty, but  even  these  wore  bright  colors.  The  head  covering  was 
universal  but  as  varied  in  colors  and  quality  as  the  fancy  and 
wealth  of  the  wearers  suggested.  I  think  some  of  the  hats  of 
the  men  must  have  cost  a  small  fortune.  The  exhibition  itself 
was  not  very  attractive  to  me.  I  could  seei  the  chickens  sparring 
around  as  though  for  a  good  opening  and  finally  one  of  the  cocks 
would  drive  the  gaff  home  with  deadly  effect  and  the  people 
would  shout  and  clap  their  hands  and  exchange  the  money  they 
had  wagered  on  the  result.  The  management  would  then  bring 
in  another  pair  of  birds  for  another  contest.  The  betting  con- 
sisted not  only  of  money  but  all  kinds  of  trinkets  and  valuables. 
I  saw  one  woman  take  off  her  white  slippers  handsomely  orna- 
mented with  gold  braid  and  spngles  and  bet  them  on  the  result 


18  LITTLE  PILLS 

of  the  contest.  The  affair, was  conducted  in  Spanish-Mexican  and 
I  could  not  understand  anything  that  was  said,  but  they  all 
seemed  to  be  delighted  with  the  exhibition.  To  me  it  was  not 
only  cruel  but  was  uninteresting.  We  did  not  stay  until  the 
finish  but  went  out  and  saw  some  more  of  the  town,  then  re- 
turned to  our  hotel. 

My  newly  made  friend  came  up  to  my  room  after  supper, 
and  spent  part  of  the  evening  with  me.  I  found  his  experiences 
interesting.  The  old  story  of  ups  and  downs,  money  to  spare,  and 
grub-stakes  furnished  by  some  one  else,  to  give  him  another  start. 
He  gave  me  his  address  and  I  was  very  prompt  in  returning  his 
twenty  dollars  as  soon  as  I  got  to  Fort  Selden,  which  by  the  way, 
I  borrowed  from  the  post  trader  until  pay-day.  In  answer  to 
my  remittance  I  received  a  post  card  without  address  or  date  say- 
ing, "You  needn't  have  been  in  such  a  hurry."  Thus  ended  an 
acquaintance  and  experience  that  I  think  could  not  have  happened 
anywhere  else  than  on  the  American  frontier.  His  name  was 
Robert  Daugherty  and  nothing  could  give  me  greater  pleasure 
than  to  meet  him  again  and  furnish  him  a  "grub-stake"  if  he 
needed  it. 

Santa  Fe  (Holy  Faith,  in  Spanish)  was  an  old  town  when  the 
Pilgrims  landed  at  Plymouth  Rock.  About  1606  according  to 
Colonel  R.  E.  Twitchell,  the  best  authority  on  the  early  history  of 
New  Mexico,  it  was  made  the  capital  of  one  of  the  Spanish 
provinces,  and  had  been  built  on  the  site  of  two  small  Indian 
pueblos.  I  believe  if  I  had  been  dropped  down  in  some  town  in 
the  interior  of  China  and  had  found  a  few  Americans  to  talk  to 
it  would  not  have  seemed  more  strange  to  me.  The  office  of  the 
chief  medical  officer  of  the  district  was  located  in  a  building  on 
the  plaza  that  someone  told  me  was  the  old  palace,  but  which  I 
thought  did  not  look  much  like  a  palace,  and  which  I  understand 
is  now  used  as  a  museum  in  which  are  to  be  found  the  most  re- 
markable collection  of  archaeological  specimens  in  America. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Monday  morning  I  started  for  Fort  Selden  on  the  Rio 
Grande,  nearly  three  hundred  miles  away.  We  had  a  different 
type  of  stage  coach,  a  small  affair,  more  like  a  carriage,  and 
drawn  by  two  horses.  Some  eight  or  ten  miles  out  of  Santa  Fe 
we  almost  literally  dropped  off  into  a  canon  that  widened  out  into 
more  of  a  valley  as  we  continued  our  journey  until  we  reached 
the  Rio  Grande  some  distance  above  Albuquerque.  This  town  was 
at  that  time  a  straggling  Mexican  village  of  adobe  houses  along 
the  east  bank  of  the  river.  It  is  now  a  city  of  considerable  size 
on  the  east  side,  with  modern  improvements  and  is  a  division 
point  on  the  Santa  Fe  railway  and  a  town  of  commercial  import- 
ance. 

The  river  was  disappointing.  I  expected  something  bigger, 
and  it  wound  around  from  one  side  of  the  valley  to  the  other  as 
though  in  doubt  as  to  the  best  way  to  go.  The  valley  was  inter- 
esting because  of  its  being  occupied  by  an  altogether  different 
type  of  Indians.  We  had  left  the  plains  Indian  at  Trinidad  and 
from  there  to  Santa  Fe  had  seen  only  Mexicans  with  a  fair  pro- 
portion of  Americans  whose  business  interests  were  in  the  coun- 
try. The  Plains  Indian,  Cheyennes,  Commanches,  and  Kiowas 
and  Arapahoes,  were  nomadic  and  warlike.  Here  was  an  agri- 
cultural people  who  lived  in  little  villages  called  pueblos,  a  name 
also  attached  to  the  Indians  themselves.  Their  villages  were  lo- 
cated at  convenient  distances  apart  and  both  men  and  women 
went  to  the  fields  to  work.  The  land  was  divided  off  into  little 
patches  separated  by  irrigating  ditches,  called  asacies,  and  there 
were  no  fences  or  lines  to  show  individual  ownership.  It  was 
seemingly  a  community  interest,  a  kind  of  socialism.  The  Pueblo 
Isletta  was  the  capital  and  principal  town  and  was  the  place  of 
meeting  for  the  disposal  of  important  questions  of  interest  to 
the  tribe,  and  for  the  observance  of  such  religious  services  as  was 
their  wont.  The  hoe  was  the  principal  agricultural  implement, 
both  for  making  ditches  and  for  cultivating  the  land.  The  people 
seemed  to  be  kindly  disposed,  and  in  every  way  a  contrast  to  the 


20  LITTLE  PILLS 

Plains  Indian  whose  women  do  the  work  while  the  men  do  the 
hunting  and  fighting.  They  enter  their  houses  by  way  of  the 
roof,  climbing  a  ladder  from  the  ground  to  the  roof  and  pulling 
the  ladder  up  after  them,  then  descending  by  way  of  an  opening 
in  the  room  to  the  room  or  rooms  below.  No  doors,  and  only 
little  peep-holes  for  windows,  sometimes  covered  with  a  thin  cloth 
of  muslin.  I  suppose  this  was  done  in  the  first  place  as  a  protec- 
tion against  the  Mountain  Indians  (Utes  and  Navajos)  who  in 
early  times  raided  the  valley  and  carried  ff  anything  they  could 
lay  their  hands  on.  The  valley  was  sparccly  wooded  except  here 
and  there  when  we  would  come  to  great  groves  or  boscas  as  they 
were  called,  of  immense  cotton-wood  trees  which  were  very  beau- 
tiful. The  valley  as  described  above  was  the  same  all  the  way 
down  to  Fort  Selden. 

After  leaving  the  Pueblo  settlements  we  came  to  a  country 
occupied  nearly  altogether  by  Mexicans.  The  commercial  interests 
were  conducted  by  so-called  foreigners:  Americans,  Germans  and 
Jews,  the  latter  predominating,  but  the  population  was  principal- 
yl  Mexican.  Stock  raising  and  farming  were  the  principal  in- 
dustries, the  latter  in  a  very  primitive  way.  They  had  no  mod- 
ern farm  implements,  such  as  plows,  harrows,  wagons,  etc.,  and 
only  such  improved  tools  as  they  could  construct  from  the  scant 
material  at  hand.  I  saw  at  one  place  a  man  driving  a  yoke  of 
cattle  attached  to  what  appeared  to  be  the  limb  of  a  tree  with 
a  projecting  prong  entering  the  ground,  and  at  the  other  end, 
which  bent  up  something  like  a  handle,  was  another  man  holding 
it.  They  were  going  back  and  forth  making  little  ditches  or  fur- 
rows but  not  turning  the  ground  over  as  our  plows  do.  It  looked 
primitive  indeed  and  reminded  me  of  a  picture  I  saw  in  an 
almanac  when  a  kid,  representing  the  Egyptian  plowing. 
Stock  business  was  more  promising.  A  good  many  cattle  were 
reported  on  the  range  and  I  was  told  the  sheep  numbered  many 
thousands  scattered  all  along  the  mountain  range  to  the  west. 
Soccorro  was  the  principal  town,  typically  Mexican,  but  a  place 
of  some  business  importance.  There  were  small  villages  at  fre- 
quent intervals  all  the  way  to  Para j  a,  the  last  town  near  the 
river  before  crossing  the  Jornada  del  Muerto  (or  "Journey  of 


LITTLE  PILLS  21 

Death'*  in  Spanish)  which  extends  from  Paraja  (pronounced 
Paraha,  j  having  the  sound  of  h  in  Spanish)  to  Fort  Selden, 
nearly  one  hundred  miles  across,  a  desert  properly  named  and 
that  has  some  pitiful  associations  in  my  memory.  It  was  what 
was  known  as  the  Apache  Indian  country  and  grewsome  stories 
are  related  concerning  it.  Death  by  Indians,  famishing  for  want 
of  water,  etc.,  etc.  I  must  tell  a  legend  concerning  it  and  the 
desert  country  to  the  east  and  north.  Near  Paraja  and  rising 
bluff  from  the  river's  edge  is  a  high  bit  of  mountain,  hardly 
worth  the  name  of  range,  on  the  top  of  which  lying  in  a  re- 
cumbent position  is  as,  perfect  profile  of  a  face  and  bust  as  you 
could  imagine.  You  get  a  fine  view  of  it  from  Fort  Craig  and 
for  a  great  distance  to  the  northwest  and  northeast.  The  legend 
is  that  a  friar,  Christobal  by  name,  and  for  whom  the  mountain 
or  range  was  named,  was  traveling  through  the  country  on  his 
work  for  the  souls  of  men  when  he  perished  from  thirst.  Some 
supernatural  agency  brought  his  body  to  this  mountain  top 
where  it  hardened  into  stone  and  remains  to  this  day  a  monu- 
ment commemorating  a  tragedy,  and  a  land  mark  and  guide  to 
the  weary  and  thirsty  traveler  pointing  the  way  to  where  he  may 
find  water. 

We  left  Paraja  and  the  river  and  valley  at  night  after  a  good 
supper,  havins  supplied  oureslves  with  water  enough  for  the  trip, 
expecting  to  get  breakfast  at  a  place  about  half-way  across,  called 
the  Alaman  (Allemand)  literally  meaning  "Dutchman"  where  it 
was  reported  a  German  had  been  found  some  years  before,  killed 
and  scalped  by  Indians.  There  had  been  repeated  efforts  made 
to  find  water  on  this  desert.  General  Pope  when  a  young  officer 
of  the  service  had  spent  a  large  amount  of  government  money 
digging  for  water.  Finally  a  man  by  the  name  of  Martin,  a 
Scotchman,  who  furnished  the  meat  supply  at  Fort  Selden,  was 
so  persistent  with  the  commanding  officer  in  asserting  his  ability 
.to  find  water,  that  he  was  furnished  a  body  of  soldiers  as  an 
escort  and  guard  and  commissary  supplies  for  the  undertaking. 
He  had  been  working  faithfully  and  persistently  for  some  months 
He  had  also  put  some  adobe  rooms  and  had  them  furnished,  his 
hauling  his  water  supply  from  a  spring  in  a  canon  some  six  or 


22  LITTLE  PILLS 

eight  miles  away  and  had  built  an  adobe  wall  around  his  camp. 
He  had  also  put  some  adobe  rooms  and  had  them  furnished,  his 
wife  being  an  important  assistant  in  the  undertaking,  and  he 
was  still  sinking  his  well  deeper  and  expressing  an  abiding  faith 
in  the  result.  It  must  be  a  glorious  feeling  to  be  vindicated  in 
such  an  undertaking.  It  was  rumored  along  the  overland  route 
thai;  Jack  Martin  had  found  water  but  not  enough,  and  upon  our 
arrival  we  found  that  he  not  only  had  water  but  had  an  abund- 
ance of  it  and  our  stage  was  the  first  to  arrive  after  he  struck  it. 
After  eating  a  late  breakfast,  which  was  a  very  good  one,  we 
started  for  Fort  Selden  still  some  fifty  miles  away.  This  part 
of  the  trip  was  uneventful  as  we  only  stopped  once  to  feed  and 
water  the  team,  having  carried  the  necessary  supplies  with  us. 
We  arrived  at  Fort  Selden  in  the  evening.  All  the  way  from 
Santa  Fe  down  I  frequently  noticed  little  piles  of  stone  by  the 
wayside,  sometimes  with  little  hand-made  wooden  crosses  stand- 
ing up  in  the  center  marking  the  place  where  someone  had  met 
a  violent  death,  maybe  by  Indians  or  maybe  at  the  hands  of  some 
renegade  Mexicans.  It  is  the  custom  among  the  Mexican  people 
in  passing  to  toss  another  stone  on  the  pile  and  in  this  way  some 
of  them  became  of  considerable  size,  the  size  of  the  pile  indicat- 
ing in  a  way  the  time  that  had  elapsed  since  the  murder  had  been 
committed. 

I  reported  to  the  commanding  officer  at  the  post  and  the 
following  day  was  assigned  to  duty.  By  invitation  I  took  dinner 
with  one  of  the  officers  the  evening  of  my  arrival.  Among  other 
good  things  we  had  a  choice  roast  of  beef  which  they  informed 
me  was  from  their  very  choice  and  only  milk  cow.  It  seems  the 
herders  were  not  sufficiently  on  guard  and  this  animal  had  be- 
come separated  from  the  herd  but  in  rounding  up  the  herd  in 
the  evening  it  was  discovered  that  this  particular  cow  had  an 
Indian  arrow  in  her  side  and  on  examination  it  was  thought  best 
some  small  timber  and  underbrush  along  the  streams  affording 
to  kill  her.  The  good  woman  did  not  have  much  appetite  for 
beef  but  grieved  over  the  loss  of  her  favorite  cow.  There  was 
a  good  hiding  place  for  sneaking  Apaches  who  might  be  disposed 
to  commit  depredations.  It  was  the  rule  at  this  post  that  when 


LITTLE  PILLS  23 

the  officers'  wives  wanted  to  take  an  airing  to  send  an  escort 
along  with  the  ambulance  as  a  protection  against  the  Indians. 

It  was  a  two  company  post  and  the  duties  of  the  medical 
officer  were  light;  so  much  so  as  to  become  a  little  monotonous, 
but  was  sometimes  varied  by  a  trip  to  Las  Cruces  or  Messilla, 
some  fifteen  or  eighteen  miles  distant.  These  towns  were  at  one 
time  separated  by  the  river  but  some  years  before  an  unusual 
flood  had  swept  down  the  valley  and  the  river  had  made  a  new 
channel  leaving  the  towns  close  neighbors.  Even  in  those  days 
they  were  places  of  some  importance. 

While  stationed  at  this  post  I  made  my  first  acquaintance 
with  gambling.  It  did  not  take  me  long  to  learn  that  it  was 
the  universal  custom  in  the  country.  The  Sutler's  or  Post  Trad- 
er's store  wa  sa  favorite  resort  for  those  who  indulged  in  the 
various  games.  I  remember  an  old  man  camping  not  far  from 
the  post  who  made  it  his  business.  He  remained  there  for  some 
time  and  in  conversation  one  day  I  expressed  my  surprise  at  the 
universal  custom  and  he  informed  me  that  he  had  rather  bet  his 
money  on  Monte  than  loan  it  out  at  ten  per  cent  interest,  and 
yet  his  dress  and  camping  outfit  did  not  indicate  a  man  of 
fortune. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  incidents  of  my  experience  here 
was  one  Sunday  morning  after  inspection  when  a  group  'of 
officers  were  standing  out  on  the  parade  grounds  talking  on 
various  subjects  when  one  of  them  was  attracted  by  something 
at  our  feet  and  called  attention  to  it.  Upon  closer  investigation 
we  discovered  it  to  be  the  outlines  of  a  human  skull,  the  top  of 
which  had  been  worn  away  by  the  trampling  of  many  feet  over 
the  parade  ground.  The  post  commander  ordered  the  dirt  re- 
moved from  around  it  and  thus  unearthed  a  complete  human 
skeleton  except  where  the  top  of  the  head  had  been  worn  away. 
It  was  in  a  sitting  position  with  the  knees  flexed  up  close  to  the 
chin  but  the  bones  crumbled  upon  being  exposed  to  the  air.  There 
was  no  evidence  of  shroud  or  other  covering  to  the  body.  What 
race  of  people  buried  their  dead  that  way?  How  long  had  it 
been  in  its  resting  place? 


24  LITTLE  PILLS 

This  post  at  that  time  was  about  seven  hundred  miles  from 
the  railroad.  I  doubt  if  there  is  a  place  in  the  United  States 
today  outside  of  Alaska  or  our  insular  possession  where  one  could 
go  and  be  seven  hundred  miles  from  a  railroad. 

Along  in  the  first  part  of  May  of  that  year  I  received  orders 
from  the  chief  medical  officer  of  the  district  to  exchange  places 
with  Dr.  Seguin,  post  surgeon  at  Fort  Craig.  General  Grover 
was  the  commanding  officer  at  Fort  Craig  and  was  considered  a 
good  deal  of  a  Martinet.  As  explained  to  me  by  Doctor  Seguin, 
it  seems  that  Mrs.  Grover  wanted  something  from  the  hospital 
which  the  doctor  declined  to  send  her  and  General  Grover  there- 
upon ordered  it  sent.  The  doctor  disobeyed  the  order  and  the 
matter  was  carried  to  district  headquarters  and  probably  higher 
up  for  it  involved  the  question  of  military  discipline  and  also  the 
rights  of  medical  officers  under  army  regulations.  It  is  well 
enough  here  to  say  that  the  medical  corps  is  a  corps  to  itself, 
distinct  from  any  other  branch  of  the  service,  and  orders  come 
through  the  medical  officers  from  the  surgeon  general  down  to 
the  divisions;  departments  and  districts,  and  yet  at  the  military 
post  the  commanding  officer  is  supposed  to  be  "monarch  of  all 
he  surveys"  os  you  see  there  was  a  chance  for  controversy.  Any 
way  it  was  settled  by  Doctor  Seguin  being  ordered  to  Fort  Selden 
to  take  my  place  and  I  to  his  place  at  Fort  Carig. 

General  Grover  was  a  severe  looking  man  past  middle  age, 
and  had  seen  service  on  the  frontier  before  the  Civil  War.  He 
was  a  strict  disciplinarian  and  held  himself  aloof  from  every- 
thing around.  I  have  seen  him  walking  down  the  line  of  officers' 
quarters  straight  as  an  arrow,  maybe  with  hands  elapsed  behind 
his  back  and  an  orderly  walking  the  proper  distance  behind.  He 
never  entered  an  officer's  quarters  but  if  he  wanted  anything  he 
would  send  his  orderly  to  the  officer  with  "the  General's  com- 
pliments and  would  like  to  see  you."  The  officer  then  walked  out 
to  where  the  general  was  standing  and  at  the  proper  distance 
stopped,  stood  at  attention  and  saluted  and  waited  for  such  com- 
munications as  the  general  would  make.  He  then  saluted  again 
and  returned  to  his  quarters  and  the  general  went  on  his  way. 


LITTLE  PILLS  25 

Mrs.  Grover  was  confined  soon  after  my  arrival  at  the  post 
and  gave  birth  to  a  daughter.  When  the  general  was  called  in 
to  see  the  new  arrival  he  merely  looked  at  it,  gave  a  grunt,  or 
"huh,"  and  then  turned  and  walked  out.  Mrs.  Grover  was  the 
most  queenly  looking  woman  I  ever  saw ;  a  magnificent  physique ; 
a  commanding  presence  and  a  dignified  and  gracious  manner. 
She  seemed  to  possess  all  the  qualities  my  imagination  had  con- 
jured up  as  befitting  a  queen.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Dr. 
Austin  Flint,  Sr.,  whom  I  mentioned  in  an  earlier  chapter,  and  a 
sister  of  Dr.  Austin  Flint,  Jr.,  the  eminent  physiologist.  I  was 
frequently  called  to  their  quarters  to  see  the  baby,  not  I  thought, 
that  it  needed  anything,  but  that  the  mother  wanted  someone 
to  talk  with.  The  general  was  civil  enough  to  me  but  never 
cordial.  I  think  it  was  not  his  nature  to  be  so.  He  invited  me 
occasionally  to  go  with  him  in  his  carriage  to  places  away  from 
the  post,  say  to  Para j a  .some  twelve  miles  away,  or  perhaps  just 
for  a  ride,  a  courtesy  he  never  extended  to  other  officers  of  the 
post.  On  these  little  excursions  I  found  that  the  general  was  an 
interesting  talker,  mostly  with  reference  to  his  experiences  on 
the  frontier  before  the  war.  The  war  itself  and  the  army  since 
the  war  was  never  mentioned  that  I  remember.  He  had  been 
a  major  general  during  the  war  and  was  now  a  colonel  and  it  was 
thought  by  most  of  the  officers  that  he  felt  humiliated  by  being 
assigned  to  a  negro  regiment,  the  twenty-fourth  infantry.  I 
was  invited  to  their  quarters  one  morning  for  breakfast  and 
maybe  one  or  two  other  meals  during  the  summer  but  as  I 
remember  them  now  they  v/ere  rather  formal  and  uninteresting. 

Fort  Craig  was  a  walled  fort,  made  so  in  early  days  as  a  pro- 
tection against  Indians.  It  was  typical  of  most  of  the  posts  at 
which  I  served  in  being  built  in  the  form  of  a  square.  The  parade 
ground  being  a  square  plot  varying  in  size  at  different  posts, 
around  which  are  located  the  buildings.  The  officers  occupying 
one  side  of  the  square;  the  barracks  being  directly  opposite  and 
the  commissary  and  quarter  master  department  generally  occu- 
pying one  side  and  the  commanding  officer's  quarters  and  post 
headquarters  and  adjutant's  office  occupying  the  other  side.  At 
Fort  Craig  just  outside  of  these  buildings  was  an  adobe  wall 


26  LITTLE  PILLS 

about  ten  feet  high.  Next  to  the  guardhouse  was  an  opening 
large  enough  for  wagons  to  enter  the  parade  ground  with  heavy 
gates  to  close  at  night,  and  there  were  some  small  openings  in 
the  wall  for  other  purposes,  one  being  near  the  hospital.  The 
walls  of  the  buildings  were  of  adobe  with  heavy  timbers  across  to 
support  the  roof  of  dirt.  The  floors  were  what  the  Mexicans 
called  "Jaspa"  (pronounced  Haspa),  a  kind  of  cement  made  of 
gypsum  or  lime  sulphate  which  is  found  in  great  beds  through  a 
great  portion  of  New  Mexico.  It  is  quarried  or  blasted  out, 
heated  to  drive  out  the  water  or  crystalization,  then  ground  into 
a  powder  and  when  mixed  with  sand  and  water  makes  a  pretty 
fair  quality  of  cement.  It  was  used  altogether  in  the  floors  for 
the  military  posts  along  the  Rio  Grande. 

The  water  supply  at  Fort  Craig  was  obtained  from  the  Rio 
Grande  river  and  there  were  times  about  June  when  the  snows 
mented  in  the  mountains  that  it  answered  very  well  to  a  descrip- 
tion I  once  read  of  the  Missouri  river  water,  "Too  thick  to  drink 
and  too  thin  to  cultivate."  This  was  a  great  bother  to  us  during 
the  summer  rise  for  it  was  persistent  for  more  than  a  month.  I 
conceived  the  idea  of  making  a  filter  by  making  a  good  sized  ball 
of  jaspa  and  charcoal  which  I  held  together  by  mixing  a  little 
cotton  batting  carefully  in  the  mortar  and  kneeding  it  into  a  very 
stiff  paste.  After  it  hardened  I  bored  a  hole  in  the  ball  and  in- 
serted a  rubber  tube  and  then  put  the  ball  in  a,  "Tanaja,"  a  large 
ungalvanized  earthen  jar  holding  eight  or  ten  gallons  of  the 
muddy  water.  This  jar  was  put  in  an  army  blanket  and  was 
swung  in  the  hallway.  The  jar  being  porus  would  let  enough 
water  through  to  keep  the,  blanket  damp,  which  cooled  the  water. 
By  swinging  another  tanaja  just  below  the  first  and  having  it 
blanketed  in  the  same  way,  and  having  a  rubber  tube  connecting 
the  two,  I  had  a  filter  that  furnished  clear,  sparking,  cool  water. 
I  put  one  in  the  hospital  and  they  became  quite  the  vogue  at  the 
post. 

The  wood  supply  was  brought  from  the  mountains  some 
thirty  miles  away.  Trains  comprising  several  wagons  would  be 
sent  out  in  charge  of  a  wagonmaster  with  men  enough  to  load 
them  promptly  and  by  starting  early  and  returning  late  they 


LITTLE  PILLS  27 

sometimes  made  the  round  trip  in  two  days,  but  generally  they 
were  three  days  out. 

For  a  month  or  more  I  was  in  the  officers'  mess,  consisting 
only  of  single  men  or  those  whose  families  were  away.  The  meals 
were  rather  stately  affairs  and  to  me  seemed  a  little  tinged  with 
the  ridiculous  in  that  far-away  place.  There  was  a  colored  man 
standing  behind  each  officer's  chair  dressed  in  the  proper  toggery 
to  do  his  duty  and  to  give  him  every  attention.  I  never  saw  any 
more  perfect  service  at  any  hotel  and  the  table  was  the  best  the 
commissary  department  and  the  surrounding  country  would  pro- 
vide. 

Prices  outside  the  commissary  were  much  higher  than  we 
had  then  in  Iowa.  Eggs, were  fifty  cents  a  dozen;  butter  a  dollar 
and  a  quarter  a  pound.  I  paid  these  prices  regularly  when  I 
started  my  own  mess.  I  had  what  was  called  a  student's  lamp 
in  those  days  and  paid  five  dollars  a  gallon  for  coal 'oil,  as  it  was 
then  called.  Of  course  that  was  before  oil  tanks  were  known  and 
it  was  carried  across  the  plains  in  barrels,  maybe  in  hot  weather, 
and  on  slow  moving  ox  trains,  being  months  on  the  way.  The 
evaporation  would  necessarily  be  very  great,  and  by  the  time 
the  sutler's  store  got  its  percent  of  profit  (probably  one  hundred 
percent  or  more)  one  could  easily  see  that  fifty  cent  oil  in  Iowa 
could  easily  be  five  dollars  in  New  Mexico.  Some  years  later  at 
Fort  McRae,  further  down  the  river,  we  got  it  for  two  dollars 
and  a  half;  per  gallon  by  sending  a  five  gallon  can  to  Santa  Fe  to 
be  filled. 

Thinking  that  I  was  a  fixture  at  Fort  Craig  for  some  time 
I  wrote  my  wife  and  asked  her  to  join  me  after  her  visit  in  the 
East  was  over.  In  view  of  her  coming  I  started  a  mess  of  my 
own  and  had  a  little  colored  drummer  boy  detailed  as  servant  and 
cook.  He  was  as  black  as  night  and  I  called  him  Sandy.  To  start 
with  I  laid  in  a  pretty  good  supply  of  commissaries,  among  them 
ten  pounds  of  cut  loaf  sugar.  I  had  my  first  dinner  on  Saturday 
and  the  following  Monday  morning  I  asked  Sandy  if  anything  was 
needed.  "Yas  sah,  Doctor,  we  needs  some  moah  sugar."  Why 
Sandy,  I  said,  we  got  ten  pounds  of  each  kind  on  Saturday,  which 
kind  do  you  want?  "We  needs  some  moah  cut  loaf  sugar,  sah," 


28  LITTLE  PILLS 

he  said.  What,  cut  loaf  sugar?  "Yas  sah,  Doctor,  it  takes  a 
powerful  sight  'o  sugar  for  deserts."  Well  all  right  Sandy,  I  said, 
I'll  see  about  it.  I  thought  it  was  going  pretty  fast  for  only  two 
dinners  so  I  stopped  on  my  way  back  from  the  hospital  at  Major 
Sweet's  quarters  and  asked  Mrs.  Sweet  how  much  cut  loaf  sugar 
they  used.  She  was  bright  and  quick  as  a  flash,  and  wished  to 
know,  while  trying  to  look  serious,  why  I  asked  such  a  question. 
Finally  she  broke  out  into  a  jolly  rippling  laugh  and  said,  "I 
know  what's  the  matter,  Sandy  has  been  carrying  your  sugar  off 
to  the  laundresses."  I  told  Sandy  when  I  returned  to  my  quart- 
ers that  I  did  not  mind  his  having  all  the  sugar  he  wanted  him- 
self but  I  did  not  want  to  feed  all  the  laundresses  at  the  post  on 
cut  loaf  sugar.  He  did  better  afterwards  but  I  still  think  the 
laundresses  got  some  sugar. 

There  is  no  other  part  of  the  country  so  far  as  I  know  where 
skunks  were  so  plentiful  as  in  New  Mexico.  They  were  a  nuisance 
at  all  the  posts  at  which  I  served  in  that  territory,  but  if  pos- 
sible were  worse  at  Fort  Craig  than  elsewhere.  One  evening  I 
had  gone  to  the  post  trader's  to  get  my  mail  and  upon  my  return 
I  found  the  odor  in  my  quarters  so  pronounced  that  I  investigated 
and  found  that  Sandy  had  killed  a  skunk  in  the  kitchen.  He  ex- 
plained by  saying  that  he  had  tried  to  drive  it  out  and  could  not 
do  so  and  that  he  had  killed  it.  I  told  him  to  open  up  all  the 
windows  and  doors  and  scrub  the  kitchen  floor  and  I  went  back 
to  the  sutler's  store  in  self  protection.  I  did  not  return  until  late 
when  I  found  the  odor  worse  than  ever  and  Sandy  explained  the 
matter  this  time  by1  saying  another  skunk  came  in  and  had  made 
its  way  into  my  bed-room  and  got  under  the  wardrobe  and  he 
could  not  get  it  out  and  was  compelled  to  kill  it.  This  he  did 
by  punching  it  to  death.  The  result  can  be  imagined,  but  not 
very  well  described.  I  slept  on  a  cot  in  the  front  room  for  some 
time  afterwards  and  found  hunting  and  out-door  exercise  more 
interesting  than  remaining  in  my  quarters. 

The  sand  storms  at  Fort  Craig  were  something  to  remember, 
or  rather  I  should  say  impossible  to  forget.  They  are  simply  a 
straight  wind  blowing  with  terrific  force  and  loaded  with  fine 
sand  and  dust  and  very  fine  gravel.  I  remember  particularly  one 


LITTLE  PILLS  29 

that  came  up  one  day  when  the  steward  and  I  were  making  out 
the  monthly  reports  at  the  hospital.  The  windows  and  doors  were 
closed  and  everything  made  as  snug  as  possible,  yet  when  the 
storm  was  over  one  made  tracks  when  walking  across  the  floor 
as  visible  as  he  would  have  made  walking  along  a  sandy  highway. 
It  was  a  serious  matter  to  be  out  in  one  of  them,  for  unless  the 
face  was  covered  one  would  suffer  severely  from  the  stinging  sand 
and  fine  gravel,  and  everything  a  short  distance  away  was  shut 
out  from  sight.  There  are  also  some  pleasant  things  to  remem- 
ber of  my  experience  at  this  post.  The  hunting,  particularly  of 
wild  fowl,  was  very  good,  the  ducks  remaining  late  in  the  spring 
and  returning  early  in  the  fall.  The  sunsets  were  beautiful  be- 
yond my  power  of  description.  It  was  my  first  summer  in  a  rari- 
fied  atmosphere  and  I  imagined  at  times  I  could  see  objects  mov- 
ing along  the  mountain  range  some  thirty  miles  away.  I  remem- 
ber one  evening  when  Doctor  Seguin  was  visiting  a  few  days  with 
me  on  his  return  from  Fort  Selden  to  New  York,  having  left  the 
service,  we  were  out  for  a  walk  together  and  were  up  on  a  little 
mound  just  west  of  the  post  as  the  sun  went  down  and  his  at- 
tention was  called  to  the  beautiful  cloud  effects.  He  remarked 
that  he  had  never  seen  anything  more  beautiful  in  Italy.  The 
doctor  was  a  Frenchman  by  birth ;  his  father  was  a  medical  man 
of  distinction,  and  while  most  of  his  life  had  been  spent  in  this 
country  he  had  traveled  extensively  abroad  and  his  education, 
particularly  in  medicine,  had  been  acquired  in  Europe.  He  was 
now  returning  to  New  York  to  take  up  his  work  as  a  lecturer  on 
nervous  diseases  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons. 

While  the  doctor  was  visiting  with  me  we  went  up  to  San 
Marcial  to  witness  the  games  on  St.  John's  day,  June  24th.  San 
Marcial  was  at  that  time  a  small  straggling  Mexican  village  of  one 
street  with  adobe  houses  on  each  side  and  all  told  maybe  had  one 
hundred  inhabitants.  We  did  not  go  into  any  of  the  houses  and 
only  witness  one  game  of  any  interest,  it  was  a  rough-and-tumble 
affair  and  excited  great  interest  among  the  Mexicans.  A  rooster 
with  its  legs  tied  would  be  buried  in  a  little  mound  of  sand  in  the 
middle  of  the  street,  leaving  only  its  head  and  neck  sticking  above 
the  mound.  The  game  was  for  the  horsemen  to  form  in  line 


30  LITTLE  PILLS 

some  distance  up  the  street  and  come  at  full  speed  swooping 
down  from  the  saddle,  grab  the  chicken  by  the  head,  and  then 
the  battle  was  on  for  the  chicken.  The  possessor  of  the  unfortun- 
ate chicken  would  strike/  out  over  adobe  walls  and  across  irrigat- 
ing ditches,  anywhere  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  his  pursuers  and 
when  at  last  he  would  be  cornered,  or  surrounded,  a  battle  royal 
would  follow.  I  could  not  determine  how  the  matter  was  de- 
cided but  when  the  game  was  over  they  would  come  back  and 
repeat  the  performance.  There  were  many  misses  in  their  efforts 
to  pick  up  the  rooster,  but  a  few  of  the  contestants  were  more 
expert  than  the  others  and  several  succeeded  in  swinging  down 
and  retrieving  the  rooster  from  the  mound  of  sand.  We  left 
while  the  game  was  still  in  progress.  In  all  the  games  I  witnessed 
among  the  Mexicans  there  appeared  the  element  of  cruelty  in 
some  form  or  other. 

During  the  summer  of  1869  while  stationed  at  this  post  I 
went  to  Paraja  to  see  the  Penitentes  parade.  I  don't  know  why 
it  was  called  a  parade  for  it  was  an  exhibition  of  cruelty  that 
I  have  never  at  any  other  time  in  my  life  seen  equaled.  It  was 
supposed  to  be  a  religious  ceremony  but  consisted  of  a  proces- 
sion in  single  file  of  those  who  had  committed  great  crimes  or 
sins.  The  one  in  front  carried  a  great  wooden  cross,  the  cross- 
bar of  which  rested  on  his  neck  and  shoulders,  he  carrying  it  in 
a  somewhat  stooped  position.  It  was  of  an  enormous  size,  the 
cross-bar  extending  as  I  estimated  it,  at  least  eight  feet  in  length 
and  the  stem  in  proportion.  It  had  been  made  of  dry  cotton- 
wood  logs  and  hewn  out  to  probably  eight  or  ten  inches  square 
and  was  a  crude  looking  affair,  but  was  probably  not  as  heavy  as 
it  looked.  The  one  bearing  this  cross  took  the  lead  and  was 
naked  to  the  waist  and  from  there  down  wore  only  a  single  cotton 
garment,  pants-like  in  shape,  but  very  full,  something  like  a  skirt, 
and  all  those  following  were  dressed  in  a  similar  way.  All  were 
bare-footed  and  there  were  probably  twenty  or  more  of  them. 
Each  carried  thongs  with  which  he  struck  the  man  in  front  of 
him  on  the  bare  back,  all  acting  in  something  like  uniformity  as 
to  time  and  repeating  in  unison  and  in  a  drone  like  voice  some- 
thing in  Spanish  that  I  could  not  understand.  Before  the  pro- 


LITTLE  PILLS  31 

cession  ended  the  backs  of  most  of  the  participants  were  notably 
bloody  and  some  of  them  very  much  so.  Para j  a  is  located  liter- 
ally in  a  bed  of  sand  and  I  wondered  how  they  could  stand  it  that 
hot  August  day  in  their  bare  feet  and  the  bloody  work  of  the 
thongs  left  the  impression  on  my  mind  of  being  a  most  brutal 
performance.  But  they  were  sincere  and  no  doubt  believed  they 
were  atoning  for  sins  committed.  What  kind  of  a  God  is  it  who 
would  accept  such  an  atonment  or  approve  of  its  offering?  The 
faces  of  the  participants  were  mostly  of  a  brutal  type  and  they 
looked  as  though  they  were  capable  of  committing  almost  any 
crime.  This  exhibition  did  not  impress  me  as  in  any  way  religi- 
ous but  on  the  contrary  as  exceedingly  barbarious  and  supersti- 
tious. 

By  act  of  Congress  during  the  winter  of  1868  and  1869  the 
army  was  ordered  reduced,  which  to  me  was  a  serious  matter  as 
it  rendered  improbable  any  convening  of  a  medical  board  for 
examination  of  medical  officers  for  promotion,  at  least  for  some 
years  to  come.  As  I  remember  such  line  officers  as  wished  to 
resign  could  do  so  with  the  privilege  of  a  year's  additional  pay, 
and  enough  others  would  be  dropped  from  the  service  to  bring 
the  number  down  to  the  required  standard,  also  with  a  year's  ad- 
ditional pay.  The  only  difference  being  that  of  resigning  or  being 
dropped  from  the  service.  Quite  a  number  of  line  officers  pre- 
ferred resigning.  Among  those  who  did  so  was  Lieutenant  Page 
of  the  twenty-fourth  infantry  at  Fort  Craig.  He  proposed  selling 
me  his  cow  and  I  proposed  trading  him  my  pistol  for  it.  He 
thought  the  matter  over  and  said  that  he  proposed  locating  on  a 
farm  in  Missouri  and  the  pistol  might  come  very  handy,  so  we 
made  the  exchange.  He  came  to  visit  me  at  Girard,  Kansas,  after 
I  had  quit  the  service  and  gave  me  a  farther  history  of  the  pistol. 
He  had  missed  a  good  deal  of  corn  from  his  fields  and  watched 
for  the  thieves  and  shot  one  of  them  quite  seriously.  The  matter 
got  into  the  courts  and  being  so  soon  after*  the  War  the  factional 
feeling  had  not  died  out,  and  the  long  litigation  that  followed 
almost  bankrupted  Mr.  Page,  rather  a  disreputable  record  for  a 
pistol  to  make,  but  I  imagine  that  there  have  been  comparatively 
few  occasions  where  pistols  were  used  in  personal  encounters, 


32  LITTLE  PILLS 

that  it  would  not  have  been  better  if  they  had  never  been  made. 
I  expected  my  wife  in  September.  In  the  meantime  Captain 
Lawson  had  returned  from  a  leave  of  absence  and  joined  my  mess 
until  his  wife  should  come.  Just  before  I  expected  by  wife  to 
start  on  her  trip  to  join  me,  a  command  came  up  from  Texas,  an 
exchange  of  regiments  had  been  ordered.  The  fifteenth  infantry 
went  to  the  Department  of  the  Missouri,  and  the  twenty-fourth 
infantry  to  the  Department  of  Texas,  and  I  was  ordered  to  ac- 
company1, a  part  of  the  fifteenth  infantry  from  Fort  Craig  to  Fort 
Wingate,  New  Mex.  I  at  once  wrote  my  wife  to  await  develop- 
ments. She  had  already  started  and  got  as  far  as  Fort  Wallace, 
Kans.,  near  the  terminus  of  the  railroad  when  word  reached  her 
from  Fort  Wingate  that  I  was  to  go  with  one  company  of  the 
fifteenth  infantry  to  Fort  Dodge,  Kans.,  and  she  could  meet  me 
at  Fort  Lyon,  Colo.,  which  would  be  on  my  way  to  Fort  Dodge. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Fort  Wingate  is  a  post  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
west  and  a  little  north  of  Albuquerque  and  in  the  mountains  in 
what  was  then  called  the  Navajo  country.  While  there  I  saw  one 
of  the  squaws  making  a  Navajo  blanket.  I  supposed  it  would  be 
called  weaving  but  was  unlike  any  weaving  I  ever  saw,  yet  when 
a  lad  I  was  quite  familiar  with  the  looms  and  spinning  wheels 
of  the  times,  and  the  making  of  cloth.  The  blanket  making  ap- 
peared to  be  a  very  tedious  process,  the  warp  being  held  taut  by 
stakes  in  the  ground  and  the  filling  or  woof  worked  in  under  and 
over  the  threads  forming  the  warp  and  pressed  in  place  by  a 
little  flat  piece  of  wood1  passing  between  the  threads  of  the  warp. 
I  could  more  readily  understand  why  the  blankets  were  so  ex- 
pensive. 

We  remained  at  Wingate  probably  two  weeks.  I  was  a  guest 
of  Doctor  Vickery,  the  post  surgeon.  He  was  a  most  charming 
host  and  all-around  good  fellow.  He  gave  me  a  little  handful  of 
garnets  the  Indians  had  brought  him  from  the  little  ant  hills  so 
abundant  in  the  country.  I  sent  a  few  of  the  choicest  stones  to 
Tiffany  &  Company  of  New  York  and  had  two  rings  made;  one 
for  my  wife  and  one  for4  a  friend,  the  post  surgeon's  wife  at  Fort 
Wallace,  who  had  been  most  kind  to  her  while  she  was  waiting 
for  an  opportunity  to  join  me. 

The  company  from  Fort  Wingate  to  Fort  Dodge  together 
with  the  headquarters'  paraphernalia  was  under  the  command  of 
Mr.  Krause,  a  lieutenant  of  the  fifteenth  infantry.  Instead  of 
coming  around  by  Albuquerque  we  came  part  way  and  then  cut 
across  country  to  the  northeast.  When  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
Rio  Grande  the  wagon  road  bore  down  to  the  southeast.  The 
infantry  cut  across  in  the  direction  of  Barnalillo  (double  L  has 
the  sound  of  E  in  Spanish)  and  the  transportation  followed  the 
wagon  road.  Mr.  Krause  and  I  took  the  ambulance  and  when  we 
reached  the  river  in  place  of  going  up  stream  on  the  west  side  as 
the  wagons  were  directed  to  do  we  crossed  over  to  the  old  over- 
land stage  route  and  then  went  north  on  the  east  side.  It  was 


34  LITTLE  PILLS 

late  when  we  reached  the  outskirts  of  the  town  and  we  noticed 
a  great  light  as  though  some  building  was  on  fire.  We  had  now 
left  the  stage  road  and  were  trying  to  find  one  that  would  take 
us  to  a  crossing  on  the  river.  We  were  about  to  enter  the  town 
or  pueblo,  for  it  was  an  Indian  pueblo,  when  we  had  a  good  view 
of  the  fire  which  proved  to  be  an  immense  bonfire  in  the  middle 
of  the  street  with  many  people  gathered  around  it.  An  Indian 
met  iis  and  gave  us  to  understand  that  we  could  go  no  farther. 
With  what  little  Spanish  we  could  command,  and  by  signs,  we  got 
him  to  understand  that  we  wanted  to  reach  the  command  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river.  By  that  time  another  Indian  or  two  had 
joined  us  and  they  at  once  took  the  matter  in  hand.  One  of  them 
got  into  the  ambulance  and  by  signs  indicated  to  the  driver  which 
way  to  go  and  the  first  man  to  meet  us  signalled  Mr.  Kruse  and 
myself  to  follow  him.  He  would  take  us  through  the  pueblo,  but 
started  around  the  outskirts  of  the  place  and  after  what  seemed 
to  me  an  interminable  time  brought  us  up  at  a  high  bluff.  It  was 
quite  dark  and  we  could  see  the  campfires  across  the  river,  but 
how  to  get  there,  or  whether  we  would  get  there,  seemed  ques- 
tionable to  me.  However,  the  Indian  knew  what  he  was  about, 
and  soon  found  the  place  he  wanted,  and  disappeared  over  the 
side  of  the  bluff  on  what  proved  to  be  steps  cut  out  of  the  rock, 
leading  down  to  the  valley  below.  It  was  then  only  a  short  dis- 
tance to  the  ford  and  our  guide  motioned  us  to  stay  there,  and  we 
understood  he  wanted  us  to  wait  for  the  ambulance,  but  he  waded 
across  the  river.  We  found  him  on  our  arrival  in  camp  carrying 
wood  for  the  campfires  and  seemingly  greatly  pleased  at  being 
able  to  help  us.  We  gave  him  a  dollar  at  which  he  was  evidently 
delighted.  The  transportation  arrived  soon  after  we  reached 
camp  and  all  was  right  again. 

We  reached  Santa  Fe  early,  in  November — I  think  the  4th — 
and  only  stayed  in  town  a  few  hours  to  rest  and  report  to  district 
headquarters  where  arrangements  were  made  to  have  the  pay- 
master come  out  to  a  place  agreed  on  some  five  miles  out  where 
we  would  camp  that  night  and  pay  off  the  men.  This  precaution 
was  taken  because  there  are  always  some  men  who  cannot  stand 
prosperity  and  will  blow  their  money  for  anything  they  may 


LITTLE  PILLS  35 

fancy,  particularly  for  liquor,  and  quite  a  number  of  them  were 
likely  to  get  drunk  and  be  put  in  the  guardhouse  and  cause  delay 
in  getting  away  from  the  town.  It  seems  however,  that  some 
of  them  had  money  and  those  disposed  to  load  up  on  "tangle- 
foot" had  borrowed  enough  to  put  themselves  past  good  march- 
ing condition,  for  at  roll  call  preparatory  to  being  paid  off,  some 
were  missing  and  came  straggling  into  camp  one  at  a  time  later  on 
in  the  afternoon,  one  without  shoes,  hat  or  clothing,  excepting 
underwear,  and  one  entirely  naked.  They  had  fallen  out  of  ranks 
and  taken  a  nap,  and  on  trying  to  join  the  command  had  been 
held  up  by  Mexicans.  Of  course  their  guns  and  accountrements 
had  gone  with  their  clothing.  We  were  camped  where  we  could 
see  some  distance  back  along  the  road  we  had  come  and  it  was 
rather  an  odd  sight  to  see  the  men  coming  into  camp  in  that 
condition.  It  was  quite  ridiculous  to  see  men  in  such  uniforms, 
or  rather  lack  of  them,  come  into  camp,  stand  at  attention  and 
salute  when  reporting  to  the  commanding  officer. 

We  followed  the  old  overland  stage  route  from  Santa  Fe  to 
Fort  Lyon,  Colo.,  a  distance  of  nearly  three  hundred  miles.  From 
there  it  was  some  two  hundred  miles  to  our  destination  at  Fort 
Dodge.  There  was  little  of  interest  on  the  way  to  Fort  Lyons, 
the  usual  routine  of  making  and  breaking  camp  and  marching 
during  the  day.  By  this  time  the  men  were  thoroughly  hardened 
to  the  march  and  the  roads  being  good  we  made  good  time.  It  is 
interesting  to  know  that  for  a  distance  of  one  thousand  miles 
men  will  beat  horses. 

At  Cimarron  we  waked  up  in  the  morning  to  find  six  inches 
of  snow  on  the  ground  and  at  Wooton's  just  north  of  the  crest 
of  Raton  Pass,  we  stayed  two  or  three  days  to  have  transporta- 
tion repaired.  I  hunted  a  little  but  as  I  was  afraid  to  go1  far  from 
camp  found  nothing.  One  evening  while  there,  Mr.  Krause  and  I 
went  down  to  Trinidad,  a  mining  town  of  some  importance  in 
those  days  with  the  usual  equipment  of  saloons  and  gambling 
halls.  I:  had  some  curiosity  to  see  the  later,  so  we  visited  one. 
It  was  located  in  a  long  room  a  hundred  feet  or  more  in  length 
by  probably  forty  feet  wide,  in  which  there  were  many  tables, 
at  most  of  which  were  men  engaged  in  playing  games.  The 


36  LITTLE  PILLS 

poker  players  sat  at  small  tables,  four  or  five  players  around  each 
one,  with  stacks  of  chips  or  money  at  their  side,  or  perhaps  a 
buckskin  sack  containing  gold  dust,  (for  this  was  a  placer  mining 
camp)  which  was  weighed  out  as  occasion  demanded  in  the 
fluctuations  of  the  game.  At  other  tables  dice  were  used,  or  balls 
were  rolled,  and  the  bets  were  made  as  to  which  little  pocket 
they  would  enter.  Everything  was  quiet  and  orderly  and  serious- 
ly business-like.  It  was  a  curious  exhibition  and  to  this  day  I 
do  not  understand  the  fascination  that  seems  to  be  in  it. 

At  Trinidad  we  were  still  a  hundred  miles  or  more  from 
Fort  Lyons  where  I  expected  to  meet  my  wife,  and  while  we 
made  exceptional  progress  for  infantry  it  seemed  all  too  slow  for 
me.  It  was  on  the  25th  of  November  when  we  reached  Fort 
Lyons,  and  I  had  the  great  pleasure  of  seeing  my  wife  and  baby 
boy  again.  We  rested  over  for  two  or  three  days  at  Fort  Lyon 
and  then  started  on  the  last  long  lap  of  nearly  two  hundred  miles 
down  the  Arkansas  river  to  Fort  Dodge,  Kans.  We  did  not  see 
a  habitation  or  a  soul  on  the  way  except  at  one  place  where  a  man 
was  standing  at  the  roadside  as  we  passed  along.  He  informed 
us  that  he  and  his  partner  were  there  killing  buffalo  and  poison- 
ing wolves  for  their  hides.  We  found  an  immense  gray  wolf 
lying  by  the  roadside  and  the  men  threw  it  on  one  of  the  wagons 
and  we  left  it  with  the  lone  hunter  by  the  roadside. 

When  pretty  well  down  toward  Fort  Dodge,  I  had  one  of 
the  most  exciting  hunting  experiences  of  my  life.  Buffalo  in 
great  numbers  were  seen  nearly  all  the  way  down  and  I  was 
anxious  to  get  a  fine  robe  from  an  animal  I  had  killed  myself. 
My  opportunity  occurred  one  afternoon  after  we  had  gone  into 
camp.  I  saw  a  good  sized  herd  leave  the  river  and  start  back  to 
the  high  ground  to  graze,  probably  a  mile  or  more  away.  I  did 
not  know  any  better  than  to  go  on  foot  and  alone.  It  never  oc- 
curred to  me  that  there  could  be  any  danger.  The  ground  was 
level  as  a  floor  and  I  got  up  within  a  hundred  yards  or  less  and 
picked  out  a  large  black  bull  that  I  thought  would  furnish  the 
prize  I  was  after,  and  fired.  At  the  crack  of  the  rifle  he  started 
for  me  and  of  course  I  turned  and  ran,  and  ran  for  my  very  life. 
I  thought  how  hopeless  it  looked  for  me,  for  the  camp  seemed 


LITTLE  PILLS  37 

far  away,  but  I  did  my  best.  Finally  I  could  hear  him  close  be- 
hind me  and  while  I  expected  every  moment  to  be  gored  it  oc- 
curred that  he  was  breathing  heavily,  and  I  kept  the  pace  as  best 
I  could  until  the  breathing  seemed  less  distinct  and  looking  over 
my  shoulder  I  discovered  that  he  had  stopped  running  and  was 
walking  around  and  around.  However,  I  kept  going  until  I  was 
sure  I  was  at  a  safe  distance  and  then  fell  on  the  ground  and 
lay  there  for  a  while.  My  heart  was  beating  like  a  trip-hammer. 
I  had  no  notion  then  of  giving  up  the  contest  and  as  he  turned 
broadside  to  me  I  fired  and  he  started,  and  I  started  for  another 
race.  He  did  not  make  much  headway  this  time  and  my  courage 
arose  accordingly.  Pretty  soon  he  stopped  again  and  commenced 
turning  around.  He  did  not  chase  me  again,  but  it  took  the 
fourth  shot  before  he  fell.  The  rifles  of  those  days  were  very 
different  from  the  modern  repeating  rifles.  This  was  a  breech 
loader  with  only  a  single  shot  and  it  was  necessary  to  raise  up 
what  was  called  the  breachblock  by  hand  and  insert  the  cartridge, 
then  replace  the  breachblock,  cock  the  gun,  and  you  were  ready 
for  another  shot.  Too  slow  a  process  when  a  mad  buffalo  is 
chasing  you. 

I  had  been  aiming  for  the  heart  but  shot  too  high  and  the 
wound  in  the  lungs  had  caused  the  blood  to  choke  him  so  he 
could  not  keep  up  the  pace.  All  four  of  the  shots  went  into  a 
space  not  larger  than  my  hand  and  one  of  the  bullets  lodged 
under  the  skin  on  the  opposite  side  which  I  was  careful  to  keep 
as  a  souvenir  of  the  chase.  Some  of  the  enlisted  men  who  had 
gone  out  to  the  right  for  a  shot  came  to  my  assistance  and 
skinned  the  animal  for  me  and  carried  the  hide  into  camp.  They 
assured  me  that  the  animal  was  certainly  within  ten  or  fifteen 
feet  of  me  at  one  time  during  our  race. 

Another  hunting  incident  occurred  on  our  trip  down  the  val- 
ley in  which  I  was  only  a  spectator.  Some  men  had  gone  off 
into  the  hills  to  get  a  buffalo  for  the  command.  They  had  sep- 
arated one  from  the  herd  and  had  wounded  it  and  got  the  animal 
turned  in  the  direction  so  as  to  cross  the  road  ahead  of  the 
command  When  it  came  in  sight  our  cook  became  enthused  with 
the  idea  of  going  out  and  killing  it  and  thus  have  some  of  the 


38  LITTLE  PILLS 

glorv  of  the  chase.  He  asked  permission  to  take  my  riding  mule 
that  followed  behind  the  ambulance.  I  readily  gave  my  consent 
and  watched  the  proceedings  with  a  good  deal  of  interest.  He 
started  away  at  full  speed  with  a  pistol  in  one  hand  swinging  it 
in  anticipation  of  a  great  victory.  All  went  well  enough  until 
the  mule  got  close  to  the  game  when  I  suppose  he  got  a  whiff  of 
an  odor  that  did  not  please  him,  for  without  slacking  his  pace 
he  turned  and  never  stopped  until  he  was  back  in  the  rear  of 
the  ambulance  again.  All  this  with  the  rider  making  the  most 
frantic  effort  to  get  him  into  the  fight.  He  did  not  even  get  a 
shot.  The  buffalo  was  killed  near  the  road  and  loaded  on  one 
of  the  wagons  and  taken  into  camp. 

Another  little  incident  occurred  on  this  trip  that  was  quite 
exciting  for  a  few  moments:  We  had  camped  near  the  river  in 
some  very  tall  grass,  blue-stem  I  think  it  was  called,  the  company 
some  little  distance  away*  and  to  windward  of  headquarters.  Some 
way  in  starting  their  campfire,  it  got  beyond  their  control,  and  a 
shout  in  that  direction  gave  as  warning.  I  gathered  the  baby 
in  my  arms  and  we  all  ran  for  the  river.  Fortunately  there  was 
a  sandbar  extending  out  from  the  bank  and  we  jumped  some  four 
or  five  feet  down  to  that,  and  huddled  up  against  the  bank  until 
the  danger  was  past.  There  was  a  strong  wind  blowing  and  it 
was  all  over  in  a  few  moments.  We  thought  of  the  ammunition 
wagon  and  feared  the  results,  but  the  only  harm  done  was  a 
little  scorching  of  my  wife's  side-saddle  which  was  under  the 
wagon.  Only  those  who  have  seen  a  prairie  fire  in  tall  grass  with 
a  stiff  wind  blowing,  can  picture  the  scene  as  it  actually  happen- 
ed. The  ground  was  swept  clean  but  was  black  with  the  ashes 
and  stubble  of  the  burned  grass.. 

On  arriving  at  Fort  Dodge  we  stayed  a  few  days  waiting 
for  a  surgeon  who  was  returning  from  Fort  Lamed  and  who 
accompanied  us  from  Fort  Dodge  to  Fort  Hayes,  Kans.  While 
at  Fort  Dodge  there  was  a  dust  storm  that  continued  for  three 
or  four  days,  blowing  a  steady  gale  during  that  time.  Major 
Morris  was  commanding  officer  at  that  post  and  I  remember  a 
lieutenant,  Phil  Reed,  who  was  a  charming  and  entertaining 
talker  at  the  table.  My  recollection  is  that  he  was  afterwards 


LITTLE  PILLS  39 

married  to  Minnie  Reams,  an  actress  of  note  at  that  time.  The 
road  from  Fort  Dodge  to  Fort  Hayes  was  a  very  desolate  one.  By 
starting  early  and  urging  our  team  along  until  after  dark  we 
came  to  a  stream  bordered  by  timber  where  we  camped  for  the 
night.  It  was  snowing  very  hard  when  we  reached  camp  and 
by  morning  there  were  six  or  eight  inches  of  snow  on  the  ground. 
The  road  was.  so  obscure  in  many  places  that  we  were  doubtful 
whether  we  were  on  the  right  road  or  on  any  road  at  all.  Not 
a  house  or  sign  of  life  in  all  that  great  white  waste  and  even 
now  I  think  of  it  as  the  most  desolate  day  of  all  my  life.  We 
arrived  at  Fort  Hayes  after  midnight  of  the  second  day,  and  were 
soon  comfortably  located  at  Doctor  JMeacham's  quarters  and 
sound  asleep.  My  orders  read  to  accompany  the  command  to 
Fort  Dodge  and  then  proceed  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and  report  to  the 
medical  director  of  the  department  which  had  been  changed  from 
Fort  Leavenworth  to  that  place.  We  were  now  at  the  railroad 
and  the  worst  of  the  long  journey  from  Fort  Craig,  N.  Mex.,  to 
St.  Louis  was  over. 

When  in  the  ticket  office  at  Fort  Hayes  arranging  my  trans- 
portation, I  was  introduced  to  one  of  the  most  noted  characters 
on  the  frontier.  He  was  generally  known  as  "Wild  Bill,"  but  his 
name  was  Hickok  and  his  brother  had  been  our  wagon  master 
from  Fort  Wingate  to  Fort  Dodge.  He  did  not  look  wild  at  all 
but  was  a  rather  mild  mannered  and  genteel  looking  fellow.  He 
had  long  hair  and  wore  good  clothes  and  had  nothing  of  the 
appearance  of  a  desperado. 

The  trip  to  St.  Louis  was  uneventful. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

On  reporting  to  the  medical  director  at  St.  Louis  I  was 
ordered  to  Fort  Sill,  Indian  Territory,  (now  Oklahoma)  by  way 
of  railroad  to  Fort  Scott,  Kans.,  and  thence  by  stage  to  my  desti- 
nation. We  arrived  at  Fort  Scott,  Kans.,  late  in  the  evening. 
This  was  theend  of  the  Kansas  City,  Fort  Scott  and  Gulf  Rail- 
road at  that  time,  and  a  booming  town  The  hotels  were  crowded 
and  we  had  great  difficulty  in  finding  a  place  to  sleep,  but  finally 
were  located  at  what  was  called  the  Western  Hotel  where  we 
were  fortunate  enough  to  get  a  room  for  ourselves.  Many  were 
compelled  to  sleep  on  cots  or  beds  made  down  on  the  floor  in  sit- 
ting rooms,  dining  rooms  and  parlors. 

The  next  morning  I  waded  through  deep  snow  some  dist- 
ance southeast  of  town  to  a  soldiers'  camp  where  Major  Roy 
was  in  command  and  reported.  He  informed  me  that  it  would 
be  impossible  for  me  to  go  by  stage  to  Fort  Sill,  that  the  stages 
had  quit  running  on  account  of  the  deep  snow,  and  that  he  would 
order  me  back  to  St.  Louis,  which  he  did.  We  arrived  in  St. 
Louis  about  the  20th  of  December,  and  stopped  at  the  Lindell,  one 
of  the  good  hotels  in  those  days.  The  controversy  between 
Doctor  Mills,  the  medical  director  and  the  department  quarter- 
master was  quite  amusing.  The  doctor  ending  up  by  saying, 
"You  sent  him  the  only  road  he  couldn't  go."  It  was  decided  I 
should  wait  for  a  boat  down  the  Mississippi  and  up  the  Arkansas 
to  Fort  Smith,  and  stage  across  country  from  there  to  Fort  Sill. 

On  my  first  arrival  at  St.  Louis  from  the  West  I  had  gone  to 
see  a  furrier  about  tanning  my  buffalo  hide  and  he  informed  me 
it  would  require  several  days  to  put  it  in  prime  condition.  I  went 
to  see  him  again  on  our  return  to  St.  Louis  and  was  told  it  would 
probably  be  ready  by  the  time  we  would  start  to  Fort  Sill  by 
boat  and  that  he  would  make  a  robe  I  would  be  proud  of.  He  sent 
it  to  the  boat  the  day  before  we  left,  and  as  it  seemed  a  little 
damp,  I  spread  it  out  on  the  hurricane  deck  to  dry.  As  it  dried 
it  became  hard  around  the  edges  and  I  kept  trimming  away  the 
hard  parts,  particularly  those  of  the  neck  and  legs  until  I  had 


LITTLE  PILLS  41 

my  robe  in  the  shape  of  a  parallelogram.  This  was  disappointing 
but  I  still  praised  it  as  a  souvenir  of  the  chase.  We  found  it  a 
very  great  help  in  keeping  us  warm  while  in  the  stage  from  Fort 
Smith  to  Fort  Sill.  It  disappeared  one  night  while  hanging  out- 
side of  our  tent  at  Fort  Sill  which  was  only  a  camp  at  that  time. 
It  had  cost  me  a  most  thrilling  experience  when  first  getting 
possession  of  it  and  then  ten  dollars  to  have  it  tanned,  and  now 
after  a  short  service  it  was  gone  and  I  concluded  it  was  hardty 
worth  the  ammunition. 

We  were  in  St.  Louis  a  week  or  more  waiting  for  the  boat 
to  start  and  while  there  we  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Joseph 
Jefferson  in  "Rip  Van  Winkle."  He  was  then  in  his  prime  and 
although  I  have  seen  and  heard  him  since  in  the  same  play  it 
did  not  appeal  to  me  in  the  same  way  it  did  at  the  first  per- 
formance. 

I  think  it  was  the  last  day  of  December  that  we  went  on  the 
boat  and  started  on  our  trip  down  the  river  the  following  evening. 
It  was  a  light  craft,  stern  wheel  boat,  and  I  was  amazed  at  the 
vast  quantity  of  freight  that  it  carried.  The  trip  down  the  Miss- 
issippi was  without  incident  but  we  had  frequent  delays  on  the 
Arkansas  unloading  freight  and  crossing  sandbars.  From  Little 
Rock  to  Fort  Smith  we  tiecj  up  every  night.  Most  of  the  time  up 
the  Arkansas  a  man  stood  at  the  head  of  the  boat  taking  sound- 
ings. 

We  were  cordially  received  and  entertained  on  our  arrival  at 
Fort  Smith  by  the  post  surgeon,  Doctor  Theibaut  and  his  family, 
where  we  remained  two  or  three  days. 

We  started  from  Fort  Smith  very  early  in  the  morning,  about 
four  o'clock  if  I  remember  rightly,  and  it  was  very  cold.  In  the 
stage  with  us,  was  a  deputy  United  States  marshal,  who  told  us 
of  the  disastrous  results  attending  those  who  brought  liquor  into 
the  country — confiscation  of  property,  jail  sentences,  etc.  The 
trouble  with  us  was  that  we  had  a  bottle  of  brandy  with  us.  By 
the  time  we  stopped  for  breakfast  my  wife  was  thoroughly  arous- 
ed to  the  importance  of  the  occasion  and  whispering  to  me  ex- 
pressed her  fears.  I  'tried  to  assure  her  that  it  would  be  all  right, 
and  that  no  one  would  search  an  army  officer's  baggage,  but  it 


42  LITTLE  PILLS 

was  of  no  use,  and  when  the  marshal  was  out  of  sight  I  broke 
the  bottle  over  the  fence  corner  and  went  into  breakfast  as 
though  nothing  had  happened.  We  learned  afterwards  that  army 
officers  were  permitted  to  bring  it  in  for  their  own  use  and  while 
at  Fort  Sill  I  had  some  sent  me  with  other  medical  supplies. 

It  was  very  cold  fou  a  day  or  two  and  we  had  the  stage  to 
ourselves  after  the  marshal  left  us.  I  think  it  was  the  following 
night  when  we  were  in  some  very  rough  mountainous  country 
that  the  driver  stopped  the  stage  and  asked  if  I  would  get  up  on 
the  outside  with  him,  explaining  that  his  team  was  hard  to  man- 
age and  that  he  might  need  assistance,  to  which  I  readily  consent- 
ed. The  team  was  spirited  enough  and  we  went  along  at  a 
spinning  gait.  I  thought  noticeably  so  for  such  rough  roads  and 
I  believe  my  wife  thought  it  was  the  ride  of  her  life.  After  two 
or  three  hours  the  driver  said  he  believed  the  team  was  settling 
down  and  would  probably  not  give  any  trouble  and  if  I  wished  1 
could  go  back  inside  the  stage  where  it  was  warmer.  I  accepted 
this  •  suggestion  promptly  and  found  it  much  more  comfortable. 
The  driver  explained  to  me  at  the  end  of  his  division  that  in  the 
rough  country  we  had  passed  there  were  frequent  hold-ups  and 
he  thought  someone  ought  to  sit  with  him  to  create  the  impres- 
sion that  the  stage  was  loaded  and  highwaymen  would  be  less 
liable  to  attack  it. 

The  second  day  out  we  had  dinner  at  the  house  of  the  chief 
of  the  Chickasaws,  having  had  breakfast  at  a  freedman's  house, 
both  of  which  were  worth  describing.  When  we  entered  the  house 
for  breakfast  there  were  a  few  smoldering  coals  in  the  fireplace 
although  it  was  quite  cold.  There  was  some  wood  by  the  chimney 
and  I  stirred  up  the  embers  and  put  on  some  wood  and  soon  had 
a  fire  started.  The  table  was  set  in  the  next  room,  if  so  called, 
for  it  was  only  partly  enclosed,  so  it  was  practically  as  cold  as  out 
of  doors.  On  the  table  was  some  headcheese  and  cornbread,  light 
rolls  and  sweet  potatoes,  all  frozen  so  that  the  frost  stood  out  on 
them,  and  some  black  coffee  and  no  cream  or  milk.  I  managed  to 
cut  off  a  piece  of  the  headcheese  and  cornbread  and  took  my 
coffee  and  went  back  to  the  fireplace  to  eat  and  my  wife  soon  fol- 
lowed, making  her  breakfast  on  some  cookies  we  had  brought 


LITTLE  PILLS  43 

with  us.  For  this  treat  we  were  charged  the  modest  sum  of 
fifty  cents  each.  At  dinner  we  had  some  fried  pork,  fried  eggs 
swimming  in  grease,  and  coffee  similar  to  that  we  had  at  break- 
fast, and  cornbread  and  all  at  the  same  price. 

The  evening  of  the  third  day  we  arrived  at  Fort  Arbuckle 
and  were  the  guests  of  Doctor  Brewer  and  family  for  two  or 
three  days  and  were  most  hospitably  entertained.  From  Fort 
Arbuckle  to  Fort  Sill  we  went  in  an  army  ambulance,  the  distance 
being  eighty  to  a  hundred  miles.  We  camped  one  night  along 
the  road  and  I  shot  my  first  wild  turkey  at  this  camp. 

Fort  Sill  at  that  time  was  only  a  camp,  but  there  was  a  saw- 
mill on  Cache  creek  a  short  distance  below,  where  they  were  get- 
ting out  material  for  permanent  quarters,  barracks  and  store- 
houses. The  plan  was  for  a  six  company  post,  and  at  that  time 
there  were  two  companies  of  infantry  and  six  troops  of  cavalry 
stationed  there.  I  reported  on  my  arrival  as  usual  and  after 
being  settled  in  our  tent,  was  assigned  to  duty  by  Doctor  Forward, 
the  post  surgeon. 

Doctor  Forward  was  among  the  oldest  assistant  surgeons  in 
the  service  and  I  thought  a  little  peculiar  in  some  ways.  He  was 
dignified  and  cordial  but  after  assigning  me  to  duty  I  thought  he 
showed  little  interest  in  the  service.  He  would  call  at  my 
quarters  occasionally  and  say  that  he  wished  to  go  over  to  the 
hospital  and  would  look  carefully  over  everything  and  would  go 
away  simply  remarking  that  everything  was  all  right.  I  remem- 
ber going  to  his  quarters  one  day  and  informing  him  that  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Fields  in  the  hospital  had  fistula  and  I  thought 
an  operation  necessary.  He  replied:  "Can't  you  stick  a  knife  in 
it?"  I  told  him  I  thought  I  could  and  he  came  a  few  days  after 
the  operation  and  expressed  his  satisfaction  at  the  results.  He 
was  promoted  to  a  full  surgency  while  I  was  there  and  assigned 
to  a  different  post.  It  is  proper  here  to  say  that  the  medical 
officers  in  the  army  are  never  addressed  by  their  military  title 
or  rank  but  always  as  doctor.  Although  their  military  rank  may 
be  that  of  major  (for  full  surgeon)  or  captain  or  lieutenant  (for 
assistant  surgeon). 


44  LITTLE  PILLS 

General  Grierson  of  note  as  a  cavalry  commander  during  the 
Civil  War  was  in  command  of  the  camp.  Our  quarters  consisted 
of  one  hospital  tent,  fourteen  by  sixteen  and  two  wall  tents  ten 
by  twelve  for  bed  room  and  dining1  room,  and  still  back  of  that 
was  the  kitchen  which  was  used  for  servants'  quarters.  All  these 
tents  were  framed  to  hold  them  in  shape  and  as  a  protection 
against  strong  winds. 

Our  first  experience  with  what  was  called  a  "Norther,"  was 
at  this  post.  These  usually  occurred  in  the  change  of  the  seasons 
from  cold  to  hot  weather  or  the  reverse.  They  are  typical,  re- 
sembling other  storms  only  in  their  intensity.  They  are  always 
preceded  by  delightful  weather.  My  first  experience  was  in  the 
early  spring  of  1870.  I  was  on  the  roof  of  the  new  commissary 
building  where  the  quartermaster's  employes  were  putting  on 
shingles  and  one  of  them  happened  to  look  up  and  said,  "Hello; 
that  looks  like  a  Norther  coming."  The  weather  was  quite  warm 
but  ideally  pleasant  and  he  noticed  my  light  clothing  and  said, 
"You  had  better  get  down  off  here  and  hunt  some  heavier 
clothes."  I  followed  his  suggestion  at  once  and  by  the  time  I 
got  to  our  quarters  a  half  mile  away  I  noticed  the  difference  in 
the  temperature  and  in  a  few  minutes  it  came  on  us  in  all  its 
fury.  It  is  simply  the  coldest  wind  I  have  ever  experienced.  It 
blows  straight  and  with  a  mighty  force  and  is  so  penetrating  that 
one  is  thoroughly  chilled  in  a  few  minutes.  I  have  since  learned 
that  it  often  kills  cattle  and  other  live  stock  down  in  Texas  and 
occasionally  people  who  are  not  properly  clothed.  It  comes  up 
from  the  Northwest,  a  bank  of  clouds,  not  clearly  outlined  but 
hazy,  I  suppose  from  dust  that  gathers  on  the  way.  Anyone  who 
has  once  experienced  it  looks  at  its  coming  with  dread  and  ap- 
prehension. We  had  two  or  three  experiences  with  a  "Norther" 
at  Fort  Sill  while  still  in  camp.  In  one  of  these  my  wife  and  I 
both  braced  ourselves  against  the  tent  frame  to  keep  it  from 
blowing  down. 

There  were  six  companies  of  colored  troops  of  the  Tenth 
Cavalry  of  which  General  Grierson  was  the  colonel,  stationed  at 
Fort  Sill.  I  did  not  see  that  they  were  very  different  from  other 
enlisted  men.  If  anything  they  seemed  to  take  more  interest  in 


LITTLE  PILLS  45 

their  personal  appearance  than  the  white  soldiers  but  were  ac- 
cused in  the  army  as  they  are  out  of  it,  of  petit  larceny.  I  had 
one  experience  in  the  hospital  that  may  be  worth  relating:  A 
trooper  by  the  name  of  Stanley  had  shot  the  index  finger  off  his 
right  hand,  he  claimed  accidentally,  but  it  was  thought  by  most 
of  the  officers  that  it  had  been  done  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
a  discharge  from  the  service.  I  kept  him  as  nurse  in  the  hospital 
as  he  was  capable  and  did  his  work  promptly  and  carefully  and 
we  often  had  him  come  to,  our  quarters  to  stay  with  our  little  boy 
when  we  were  spending  the  evening  with  our  fellow  officers  and 
their  wives.  I  had  frequently  missed  small  change  and  little 
things  of  no  great  value  but  he  would  deny  any  knowledge  of 
them  with  such  apparent  candor  and  honesty  that  my  suspicions 
were  allayed.  One  morning,  however,  when  attending  sick  calls 
at  the  hospital  the  hospital  steward  informed  me  that  Stanton 
was  discovered  taking  money  from  under  the  pillow  of  one  of  the 
sick  men  during  the  night.  I  sent  for  him  and  explained  the  mat- 
ter to  him  for  I  was  really  disposed  to  let  him  off  as  easy  as  pos- 
sible. He  denied  any  knowledge  of  it,  so  I  said  to  him :  "Now  look 
here  Stanton,  the  evidence  is  too  strong  against  you,  you  go  and 
give  Fields  his  money  and  behave  yourself  hereafter  and  I  will 
let  the  matter  drop.  You  are  a  good  man  and  I  would  like  to 
keep  you."  He  looked  me  straight  in  the  face  and  said:  "Fore 
God,  Doctor,  I  never  did  take  that  money."  I  sent  the  steward's 
assistant  over  to  the  guardhouse  with  orders  to  the  sergeant  of 
the  guard  to  send  a  man  over  to  take  charge  of  a  prisoner.  A 
corporal  came  and  I  explained  >the  matter  to  him  and  I  directed 
him  to  take  Stanton  to  the  guardhouse  and  to  tell  the  sergeant 
of  the  guard  that  I  wanted  him  to  get  that  money  and  for  him 
to  resort  to  any  means  necessary  to  get  it,  even  if  he  had  to  tie 
the  prisoner  up  by  the  thumbs.  This  is  of  course  a  very  severe 
punishment,  and  consisted  of  using  a  very  strong  cord,  the  ends 
of  which  are  looped  over  each  thumb  and  then  thrown  over  a 
crossbar  a  short  distance  above  the  prisoner's  head  and  drawing 
him  up,  if  necessary,  off  the  ground.  When  I  got  through  my 
hospital  duties  and  was  on  my  way  to  my  quarters  I  heard  the 
howling  of  the  prisoner  at  the  guardhouse  and  stopped  where  I 


46  LITTLE  PILLS 

had  a  good  view  and  watched  the  results  with  interest.  Stanton 
was  protesting  his  innocence,  and  the  sergeant's  orders  were  "pull 
him.  up  a  little  higher."  It  did  not  take  long  for  Stanton  to  see 
his  mistake,  for  he  said,  "Let  me  down  and  I  will  tell  you  where 
it  is."  "No  you  don't.  Tell  me  first  where  it  is,  then  I  will  let 
you  down."  Stanton  said,  "It's  in  the  lining  of  my  cap."  And 
sure  enough  there  was  the  ten  dollars.  The  result  was  that  a 
courtmartial  gave  him  six  months  with  "ball  and  chain."  I  think 
this  occurrence  illustrates  one  of  the  characteristic  traits  of  the 
colored  race,  and  to  me  it  is  remarkable  that  he'  would  have  taken 
such  a  course  when  he  was  offered  the  chance  of  taking  one  that 
in  every  way  would  have  been  so  much  better  for  himself. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Fort  Sill  was  the  first  post  at  which  I  had  any  experience 
with  Indians.  It  was  located  on  what  was  then  called  the  Kiowa 
and  Commanche  reservation  near  the  junction  of  Cache  and  Medi- 
cine Bluff  creeks.  Mount  Scott,  the  highest  point  of  the  Wichita 
mountains  was  some  nine  miles  to  the  northwest  and  both  places 
had  been  geographically  located  and  were  used  as  a  base  for 
triangulation  in  locating  other  points.  These  tribes  of  Plains 
Indinas  were  famous  fighters  and  were  finally  subdued  and 
brought  to  terms  by  Custer's  great  battler  on  the  Washita.  They 
were  very  numerous  and  there  was  always  a  feeling  that  an  out- 
break might  occur  at  any  time.  During  my  service  there  from  Jan- 
uary, 1870,  to  August,  1871,  there  were  seventeen  men  brought 
in  and  buried  who  had  been  killed  and  scalped  by  Indians.  They 
would  not  attack  a  large  party  of  men  in  soldier's  uniform  but 
boot-leggers  and  stragglers  stood  a  poor  show  if  caught  out  alone. 
Once  while  there  a  woman,  one  girl  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  old, 
and  one  about  twelve  years  old,  and  two  smaller  ones  and  two 
boys,  one  of  whom  belonged  to  another  family,  were  brought  into 
the  camp  on  the  promise  of  a  hunded  dollars  apiece  ransom.  They 
were  from  Texas  and  at  their  homes  when  attacked  by  Indians, 
and  the  men  were  killed  and  these  people  brought  away  captives. 
If  attempt  had  been  made  to  recover  them  by  force  they  would 
have  been  killed 

I  once  saw  Lone  Wolf,  a  Comanche  chief,  with  a  United 
States  mail  sack  of  leather  on  his  pony,  and  the  interpreter,  Mr. 
Jones,  told  me  that  he  and  some  of  the  other  young  bucks  had 
been  on  a  raid  down  in  Texas  and:  among  other  depredations  they 
had  killed  the  mail  carrier  and  destroyed  the  mail,  only  keeping 
the  sack  for  his  own  use.  I  saw  him  frequently  with  it  after- 
wards. Mr.  Jones  told  me  that  Lone  Wolf  had  said  that  his  heart 
felt  better*  now,  as  he  had  avenged  the  death  of  his  son  who  had 
been  killed  on  one  of  their/ raids  in  Texas.  These  raids  were  of 
frequent  occurrence,  and  there  was  generally  some  evidence  of 
them  in  the  wearing  apparel  or  trinkets,  or  anything  the  Indians 


48  LITTLE  PILLS 

might  fancy,  and  that  had  evidently  belonged  to  some  settlers  or 
travelers  who  had  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  come  in  their  way. 
But  so  far  as  I  know,  they  never  killed  a  soldier. 

I  have  witnessed  from  the  bluff  near  the  hospital  on  Medicine 
Bluff  creek  their  dances  in  the  valley  just  across  the  streams  at 
night,  many  times,  bul,  never  had  any  desire  to  make  a  closer  ac- 
quaintance. It  always  seemed  to  me  a  wild  kind  of  a  thing, 
consisting  of  jumping  and  gyratting  and  stooping  and  gliding 
and  then  straightening  up  suddenly,  and  swinging  the  arms,  and 
all  the  time  droning  in  short  jerky  cough-like  notes,  interspersed 
with  sharp  penetrating  yells.  There  might  be  only  one  performer 
or  maybe  a  half  dozen  or  more.  Where  there  is  a  number  en- 
gaged, it  is  not  only  exciting  but  decidedly  wild,  certainly  unlike 
any  other  dance  I  have  ever  seen. 

They  were  great  thieves  and  anything  left  outside  of  our 
tents  which  might  strike  their  fancy  was  liable  to  be  carried 
off.  One  day  a  squaw  brought  a  venison  ham  to  our  tent  to  sell. 
The  regular  price  was  fifty  cents  and  I  bought  it  although  we  had 
bought  one  less  than  an,  hour  before,  and  when  taking  it  back  to 
hang  up  with  the  first  one  I  thought  the  squaw  looked  very  much 
like  the  one  from  whom  I  had  made  the  first  purchase,  and  was 
not  much  surprised  to  find  the  first  ham  missing.  We  usually 
hung  them  out  for  a  while  to  get  the  Indian  odor  off  them,  and 
I  have  no  doubt  that  I  bought  the*  same  ham  from  the  same  squaw 
the  second  time. 

There  were  fixed  days  each  month  on  which  rations  were  is- 
sued to  the  Indians  by  the  commissary  department  and  I  have 
seen  the  squaws  cany  sacks  of  flour  a  little  distance  away  from 
the  place  of  issue  and  empty  out  the  flour  and  carry  off 
the  sacks,  hundreds  of  them,  so  that  the  ground  for  a  consider- 
ably distance  around  would  be  literally  white  with  flour. 

They  were  permitted  to  go  about  the  camp  any  where  during 
the  day,  but  at  sundown  scarcely  an  Indian  was  to  be  seen  and 
none  were  permitted  in  camp  at  night. 

It  was  a  very  comfortable  feeling  to  hear  the  hours  called 
at  night,  by  those  on  guard  if  one  should  happen  to  wake  up 
and  hear  the  announcement  that  "All's  well."  For  instance,  the 


O>  o 

o  «•> 

c  - 

5T  ST 


—    H 

"I  g 

I  =•  2 

j]   3'  2 


L     If  2 

B  S 

05  ^ 

Ci   3  T3 


«    2. 

II 

C:   o 
2    3 

B     a* 


cc 


LITTLE  PILLS  49 

sergeant  of  the  guard  announces  in  a  loud  enough  voice  to  be 
heard  by  the  first  sentinel,  "Two  o'clock  and  all's  well."  On 
hearing  it  the  sentinel  repeats  the  message,  and  so  on  around 
the  camp,  and  when  the  last  sentinel  has  finished,  the  sergant 
of  the  guard  says,  "Two  o'clock  and  all's  well  all  around."  This  is 
repeated  each  hour  during  the  night. 

A  very  different  announcement  is  the  long  roll  of  the  drums 
which  happened  twice  while  we  were  at  this  camp.  It  is  the 
alarm  to  awaken  the  camp,  and  made  by  rapid  and  long  continued 
beating  of  the  drum  without  break  or  stop  until  the  garrison  is 
fully  aroused.  The  assembly  call  by  the  bugle  of  the  cavalry, 
takes  the  place  of  the  long  roll  of  the  drum  for  the  infantry,  and 
the  two  together,  and  the  clanking  of  arms,  and  the  orders  to 
"Fall  in,"  "Fall  in,"  "Fall  in,"  makes  an  exceedingly  interesting, 
not  to  say  exciting  experience.  If  you  are  quick  in  getting  out 
of  your  tent  you  may  see  the  officers  scurrying  across  the 
parade  ground  to  their  command,  fastening  on  their  clothes  as 
they  go  and  soon  everything  is  in  order  for  whatever  may  happen. 
The  women  and  children  in  these  cases,  hurry  with  all  possible 
speed<  to  a  place  of  safety.  At  this  camp  it  was  always  at  Major 
Van  De  Weile's  quarters,  some  of  them  very  scantily  clothed, 
generally  with  some  kind  of  wrap  over  their  night  clothes,  but  it 
was  not  cold  weather,  and  any  way  what  did  it  signify  in  such 
an  emergency.  The  major's  quarters  were  what  was  called  a 
"hakel"  building*  and  the  only  one  in  camp  better  than  a  tent 
except  General  Grierson's  that  offered  any  protection.  Such 
buildings  are  made  by  standing  posts  on  end  in  the  ground  and 
as  close  together  as  possible  and  filling  in  the  cracks  with  mortar 
and  pieces  of  boards  or  anything  suitable,  and  the  inside  is  then 
plastered  up  along  the  cracks  until  it  makes  a  fairly  smooth  wall 
and  is  then  whitewashed  and  makes  comfortable  quarters  but  not 
a  first  class  protection  against  rifle  bullets.  They  would  huddle 
together  and  talk  in  undertones  as  to  what  might  happen  until 
the  report  came  that  it  was  a  false  alarm.  In  both  these  instances 
it  proved  to  be  so,  but  the  anxiety  and  excitement  was  just  as 
real  as  if  the  results  had  been  different.  Probably  some  nervous 
sentinel  had  fired  his  gun  at  what  he  supposed  to  be  an  Indian 


50 

crawling  toward  him,  but  that  may  have  been  only  a  dog  or  some 
other  animal,  or  it  may  have  been  purely  his  imagination.  Any 
one  who  has  not  gone  through  such  an  experience  cannot  imagine 
its  uncanny  quality  as  the  Scotch  would  express  it.  It  is  a  very 
vivid  impression  with  me  today  after  more  than  forty  years. 

We  remained  under  more  or  less  strain  of  anxiety  until  the 
new  quarters  were  finished  or  enough  of  it  so  that  we  could 
crowd  into  them.  Officers  take  quarters  according  to  rank,  and 
it  not  infrequently  happens  that  one  will  have  to  vacate  his 
quarters  and  give  place  to  another  who  outranks  him,  the  rank- 
ing officer  having  this  right  and  as  a  rule  he  does  not  hesitate 
to  use  it  although  he  may  be  a  single  man  and  the  man  displaced 
be  a  man  of  family.  This  is  so  well  understood  and  so  graciously 
accepted  that  there  is  seldom  any  feeling  or  resentment  about  it. 

In  our  own  case  we  had  to  occupy  quarters  with  another  of- 
ficer and  his  wife,  Mr.  Spencer  of  the  Tenth  cavalry,  and  this 
reminds  me  of  an  experience  we  had  that  shows  something  of 
the  Indian  character.  We  had  for  some  time  previous  to  this,  a 
Cherokee  Indian  woman  employed  as  servant.  She  probably  had 
a  little  negro  blood  in  her  veins  as  her  long  black  hair  was  slight- 
ly wavy,  but  in  every  other  way  she  was  typically  Indian.  She 
was  exceedingly  neat  and  clean  and  a  thorough  housekeeper  and 
an  exceptionally  good  cook  and  a  most  devoted  servant,  but  she 
would  take  orders  from  no  one  except  my  wife.  Soon  after  going 
into  our  new  quarters  she  informed  my  wife  that  she  was  going 
to  leave  us,  and  this  she  did,  knowing  full  well  that  she  could  not 
remain  at  the  post  if  she  did  ss.  My  wife  was  surprised  and  so 
expressed  herself  and  also  her  sorrow  at  having  her  go,  but  no 
inducement  she  could  offer  had  any  effect  on  this  high-strung 
woman.  She  cleaned  out  the  stove  and  put  in  the  kindling  and 
had  everything  neat  and  clean  as  possible  before  leaving.  It  de- 
veloped afterwards  that  she  was  offended  at  some  orders  given 
her  by  Mrs.  Spencer. 

Another  little  incident  will  show  the  Indian  blood:  One  of 
the  colored  sergeants  took  quite  a  fancy  to  her  and  would  often 
stand  in  the  door  and  talk  to  her,  which  was  all  well  enongh  with 
Charlotte  until  she  wanted  him  to  go.  I  think  on  this  occasion 


LITTLE  PILLS  51 

he  was  disposd  to  nag  her  about  something,  for  I  overheard  her 
say  in  a  loud  and  angry  tone,  "Now  you  go,  I  won't  talk  to  you 
again.  Go  now!"  I  hurried  to  the  kitchen  and  opened  the  door 
just  in  time  to  see  the  butcherknife  sticking  in  the  outside  door- 
jam  and  still  vibrating  from  the  force  that  sent  it.  The  sergeant 
had  jumped  in  time,  but  Charlotte  was  furious.  When  I  asked, 
"Why,  Charlotte,  what  is  the  matter?"  she  simply  replied,  "Next 
time  I  tell  that  nigger  to  go  I  guess  he  will  go."  I  frequently 
though  how  near  we  came  to  having  another  patient  in  the 
hospital. 

I  will  relate  one  or  two  other  instances  that  occurred  while 
we  were  stationed  here  that  may  be  interesting:  My  wife  had 
the  only  sewing  machine  in  the  camp  and  one  day  Satana,  the 
war  chief  of  the  Kiowas,  was  passing  down  the  line  of  officers' 
quarters  and  heard  the  hum  of  the  sewing  machine.  It  was 
summer  time  and  the  door  was  open  so  he  stalked  in  and  sat 
down  without  any  ceremony  or  sign  of  recognition  and  watched 
my  wife  sewing.  He  was  evidently  very  much  interested  but 
gave  no  evidence  of  it  by  word  or  look.  He  remained  for  quite  a 
while  observing  the  performance  intently  and  then  got  up  and 
said,  "Adois!"  and  stalked  out  again.  He  made  several  calls 
afterwards  and  went  through  the  same  performance  each  time 
until  I  suppose  he  became  satisfied  for  his  visits  ceased.  He  was 
the  finest  specimen  of  an  fyidian  I  ever  saw;  very  large,  well 
proportioned,  with  a  remarkably  forceful  expression  of  face  and 
walked  with  a  dignity  becoming  a  prince. 

Adjacent  to  the  sutler's  store  was  a  large  corral  enclosed  by 
a  high  stockade,  inside  of  which  were  the  necessary  buildings 
for  storage,  stables,  etc.,  and  near  the  front  of  this  corral  and 
on  a  line  with  the  store  was  the  houses  for  the  clerks,  a  few 
feet  back  from  the  stockade.  In  front  of  each  house  was  a  small 
gate  which  was  always  closed  at  night  but  often  kept  open  during 
the  day.  In  the  summer  the  front  doors  were  also  left  open.  One 
day  a  tall,  rather  handsome  Indian,  that  I  had  often  noticed  about 
the  camp,  and  who  was  something  of  a  "dandy"  in  dress,  hap- 
pened to  be  passing  and  happened  to  catch  his  reflection  in  a 
large  mirror  on  the  dresser  that  stood  in  line  with  the  door  and 


52  LITTLE  PILLS 

gate.  He  immediately  marched  in  without  looking  right  or  left, 
made  a  thorough  survey  of  himself  in  the  glass  then  turned  and 
walked  out  saying  "How"  to  Mrs.  Rector,  who  was  sitting  in  the 
room  during  this  rather  unceremonious  call. 

I  had  a  little  experience  one  day  with  Stumbling  Bear,  a 
subchief  of  the  Kiowas  that  at  that  time  made  me  a  little  nervous 
and  I  have  since  thought  with  little  reason.  I  was  returning  from 
a  duck  hunt  up  Medicine  Bluff  creek  and  was  a  short  distance 
above  the  bluff  that  gave  it  its  name  when  Stumbling  Bear  came 
up  behind  me,  and  we  talked  a  little  and  I  offered  him  some  ducks 
which  he  took,  and  soon  rode  ahead.  I  knew  of  a  little  canon 
that  broke  its  way  down  to  the  stream  a  little  distance  ahead 
and  across  which  the  trail  must  lead.  For  some  reason  which  I 
cannot  explain,  I  thought  it  best  to  wait  until  he  came  up  on 
the  other  side  of  the  canon.  This  canon  opened  out  into  the  river 
valley  and  from  my  position  I  could  see  the  valley  thoroughly.  He 
did  not  come  upon  the  opposite  side  as  I  expected,  and  I  felt 
equally  sure  that  he  did  not  go  down  the  canon  and  come  out  in 
the  valley.  He  had  his  rifle  with  him  and  of  course  could  have 
killed  me  as  he  came  up  behind,  if  he  had  wished  to  do  so,  but  I 
was  nervous  about  him  not  showing  up  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  canon,  and  so  I  concluded  to  make  a  detour  around  theh  ead 
of  the  canon  and  out  of  gunshot  range,  and  went  on  my  way  to 
camp.  That  he  could  have  gotten  out  of  there  without  my  seeing 
him  still  seems  to  me  impossible,  and  why  he  should  stay  in  there 
until  I  had  gone  seems  equally  unaccountable.  Any  way  I  did 
not  see  him  again  for  several  days  when  he  rode  into  camp  as 
usual. 

The  Indian  agency  was  located  just  outside  the  military  res- 
ervation, some  five  or  six  miles  down  the  creek  from  the  fort. 
Colonel  Boone,  a  nephew  of  Daniel  Boone  of  frontier  fame,  was 
Indian-  agent  when  we  arrived  at  the  camp  but  was  succeeded 
the  following  spring  by  an  appointee  under  a  new  ruling  of  the 
Interior  Department.  Colonel  Boone  was  a  very  large  man  and 
his  wife  was  quite  below  the  average  sized  woman.  I  mention 
him  here  only  because  we  were  mutual  friends,  but  also  of  at 
least  one  commendable  trait  of  Indian  character  that  is  illustrated 


LITTLE  PILLS  53 

by  their  journey  back  to  their  ranch  in  Colorado.  The  colonel 
had  decided,  much  against  our  protestations  of  the  dangers,  to 
go  across  the  country,  which  to  us  seemed  to  be  wilfully  sacrific- 
ing their  lives;  but  he  insisted  that  he  would  send  up  to 
the  chief  of  the  Arapahoes,  whose  name  I  have  forgotten,  and  if 
he  thought  it  fairly  safe  and  would  send  an  escort,  he  certainly 
would  take  the  chances. 

The  escort  came  in  a  few  days  and  they  were  certainly  a 
fine  looking  lot  of  fellows,  being  extra  well  mounted  and  equipped 
and  I  felt  sure  that  they  would  give  a  good  account  of  them- 
selves in  case  of  trouble  and  the  colonel  assured  us  that  the  last 
one  of  them  would  die  in  defense  of  himself  and  wife  if  neces- 
sary. So,  we  said  bood-bye  to  them  with  some  misgivings,  but 
with  a  strong  hope  that  they  would  make  the  journey  safely.  I 
got  a  letter  from  the  colonel  some  months  later  announcing  their 
safe  arrival  home,  and  praising  the  fidelity  and  other  good  quali- 
ties of  his  Indian  escort.  It  was  refreshing  to  hear  and  know 
something  good  of  Indians  that  had  so  much  that  was  bad  to  their 
credit. 

I  am  quite  convinced  that  any  Indian  appreciates  justice  and 
a  square  deal  as  much  as  we  do,  and  recognizes  force  and  sub- 
mits to  it  quickly  enough,  if  tempered  with  justice,  but  he  does 
not  understand  moral  suasion  as  we  understand  it.  I  think  that 
his  conception  of  it  is  cowardice.  He  cannot  comprehend  why 
one  should  return  good  for  evil  but  believes  in  an  eye  for  an  eye 
and  he  faithfully  carries  it  out  in  practice.  He  believes  in  all 
kinds  of  ghosts  and  spirits,  good  and  bad,  and  his  life  is  largely 
shaped  by  this  belief. 

A  story  Mr.  Jones  told  me  one  day  will  illustrate  their  prac- 
tical view  of  things:  Mr.  Jones  had  married  a  squaw  and  some  of 
the  chiefs  were  at  his  house  for  dinner  that  day.  He  tried  to 
explain  to  them  our  Bible  history  of  how  sin  came  into  the  world, 
and  they  listened  intently,  and  without  interruption,  until  he 
had  finished.  Then  one  old  chief  spoke  up  aid  said,  That  is  just 
like  a  white  woman.  Now  if  that  had  been  a  squaw,  she  would 
have  taken  a  stick  and  killed  that  snake,  and  saved  all  the 
trouble."  And  while  it  may  sound  funny  it  was  not  intended  as 


54  LITTLE  PILLS 

levity  or  anything  like  a  joke,  but  was  said  in  all  seriousness.  He 
evidently  did  not  grasp  our  interpretation  of  it  in  any  way,  but 
on  the  contrary  he  looked  on  the  woman's  actions  as  cowardly 
and  inexcusable. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

During  General  Grant's  first  term  as  President,  the  Indian 
agencies  were  put  in  the  hands  of  the  representatives  of  the  fol- 
lowing churches,  namely:  Congregational,  Presbyterian,  Catho- 
lic, Dutch  Reform,  Episcopal,  Methodist,  Baptist,  Unitarian,  and 
the  two  branches  of  Friends.  This  was  brought  about  by  a  reso- 
lution on  January  13th,  1871  at  a  conference  of  the  President, 
the  board  of  Indian  commissioners  and  the  official  representatives 
of  the  religious  bodies  above  mentioned.  This  was  considered 
at  the  time  as  the  President's  policy  and  was  something  of  a 
surprise  to  many  army  officers.  But  there  was  no  marked  criti- 
cism, most  of  them  believing  that  if  the  management  of  Indian 
affairs  could  not  be  in  the  hands  of  the  war  department,  it 
Would  have  as  good  a  chajice  of  being  honestly  managd  by  rep- 
resentatives of  the  churches  as  in  any  other  way. 

The  Kiowa  and  Commanche  agency  was  put  in  the  hands 
of  a  Mr.  Tatum,  a  Quaker  and  most  estimable  gentleman,  but 
I  afterwards  thought  he  as  illy  understood  the  Indian  character 
as  the  Indians  did  the  peace  loving  creed  of  the  Quaker  per- 
suasion. He  was  unfortunate  in  being  found  in  his  shirt  sleeves 
and  at  work,  when  the  first  delegation  of  the  Indian  chiefs  went 
to  the  agency  to  see  him,  and  from  that  time  was  spoken  of  by 
the  Indians  as  the  squaw  agent.  They  could  see  nothing  elevat- 
ing or  even  respectable  in  a  man  working,  that  being  the  squaw's 
duties,  and  had  little  respect  for  the  agent  afterwards,  although 
he  did  the  best  he  could  for  them. 

Mr.  Tatum  thought  it  would  be  better  for  the  Indians  to  live 
in  houses  like  white  people,  instead  of  in  tents,  and  proposed 
building  them  houses,  and  some  of  the  chiefs  agreed  to  occupy 
them.  He  at  once  got  busy  and  built  six  or  seven  neat  log 
houses  in  the  timber  a  few  miles  north  of  the  camp.  The  Indians 
moved  in  as  they  had  agreed  and  it  was  reported  that  some  of 
them  put  their  tepees  up  inside  the  houses.  Of  course  they  did 
not  stay  long  in  such  an  unnatural  place,  and  when  I  saw  the 


56  LITTLE  PILLS 

houses  some  time  afterwards,  there  was  no  evidence  of  recent 
occupation. 

He  also  established  a  school  for  Indian  children  at  the  agency, 
and  I  think  it  was  patronized  by  some  of  the  Indians  sending 
their  children,  but  up  until  the  time  we  left  the  post,  the  at- 
tendance was  small.  We  cannot  tell  what  the  eventual  results  of 
these  honest  efforts  to  do  go  may  be. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  places  about  the  camp  to  me 
was  Mr.  Orleman's  office.  He  was  a  West  Point  graduate,  a 
lieutenant  in  ,one  of  the  companies  at  the  camp,  and  was  the 
engineer  under  Major  Rockwell,  who  had  charge  of  the  con- 
struction of  the  new  post.  Maybe  my  everlasting  desire  to  know 
things  interested  him,  for  he  was  very  kind  in  showing  me  his 
instruments  and  explaining  their  uses.  I  was  a  frequent  caller 
at  his  office  and  he  always  seemed  glad  to  see  me.  I  mention 
this  more  particularly  from  the  fact  that  in  the  spring  of  1871 
there  was  a  part  of  the  garrison,  I  think  two  troops  of  cavalry 
sent  to  establish  a  camp  on  or  near  the  junction  of  Cache  creek 
and  Red  river,  and  I  was  ordered  to  make  a  survey  of  the  route 
and  distance.  I  had  never  done  such  a  thing  and  was  more  than 
doubtful  of  my  ability  to  do  it  properly,  so  I  went  to  see  Mr. 
Orlema,n  about  it.  He  said,  "Oh,  you  can  do  it  as  well  as  any- 
body. I  have  explained  these  instruments,  and  how  to  use  them ; 
of  course  you  can  do  it."'  And  that  settled  it.  It  was  simple 
enough  after  all.  A  meter  is  fastened  to  the  hub  and  spoke 
of  one  of  the  rear  wheels  of  the  ambulance,  the  hand  pointing 
down  and  with  a  weight  cm  the  end  of  it  to  hold  it  steady  over 
rough  ground.  A  clockwork  inside  records  the  revolutions  of  the 
wheel.  In  other  words,  the  clock  goes  around  instead  of  the 
hand,  and  by  knowing  the  circumference  of  the  wheel  it  is  easy 
then  to  calculate  the  distance  traveled.  The  compass  and 
tripods  were  not  so  easy,  but  a  little  practice  before  starting  gave 
me  some  confidence.  The  zig-zag  course  we  had  to  take  to  get 
around  the  head  of  the  canons  and  to  avoid  rough  ground  where 
the  ambulance  could  not  go,  were  the  principal  difficulties,  but 
by  recording  the  degrees  of  each  cange  of  direction  one  gets 
fairly  good  results.  Mr.  Orleman  came  down  some  time  after  we 


LITTLE  PILLS  57 

had  established  tht  camp,  and  corrected  the  survey  by  triangu- 
lation,  and  complimented  me  on  missing  the  location  less  than 
one-fourth  of  a  mile  in  a  distance  of  more  than  forty-five  miles 
traveled. 

From  this  camp  I  was  ordered  to  make  a  topographical  sur- 
vey to  the  junction  of  the  North  fork  of  the  Red  river  with  the 
main  stream,  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  miles  by  the  route 
we  took  along  the  river.  Mr.  Spencer  with  a  detachment  of 
about  thirty  troopers  was  sent  with  me  as  an  escort.  This 
kind  of  survey  did  not  pretend  to  be  accurate  but  was  intended  to 
observe  and  record  the  principal  features  of  the  country,  such 
as  canons,  high  points  of  land,  valleys  and  table  lands,  and  to 
estimate  the  altitudes  and  distance.  The  compass  was  the  only 
instrument  used  on  this  trip.  We  arrived  at  our  destination 
about  the  middle  of  the  forenoon  of  the  third  day  and  crossed 
the  North  fork  and  went  into  camp  at  the  junction  of  the  two 
streams.  There  was  a,n  immense  cottonwood  tree  just  on  the 
bank  where  the  two  streams  united  and  we  conceived  the  idea 
of  marking  our  names  and  date  on  it,  supposing  that  we  might 
be  the  first  white  people  in  that  locality.  After  the  work  was 
done  I  suggested  that  we  have  a  picket  pin  heated  and  burn  the 
letters  to  keep  them  from  healing  over  so  soon,  but  we  discov- 
ered there  were  no  matches  in  the  command  to  start  a  fire,  a 
piece  of  carelessness  that  we  thought  inexcusable.  It  occurred 
to  me  that  the  medical  panniers  are  always  provided  with 
matches  and  on  investigation  I  found  a  little  box  of  wax 
matches  and  we  soon  had  a  fire  started.  When  we  had  seared 
the  letters  over  thoroughly  we  were  quite  pleased  with  the  in- 
sult and  if  that  tree  is  still  standing  it  will  probably  show  some 
marks  of  the  vandal  hands  that  scarred  its  magnificent  body. 
I  remember  the  dinn«r  that  day  among  other  good  dinners  that 
I  have  had  on  my  hunting  trips.  We  had  buffalo  hump  and  I 
thought  it  at  that  time  the  best  thing  I  had  ever  tasted. 

The  country  from  our  camp  at  the  mouth  of  Cache  creek 
to  the  junction  of  North  fork  and  the  main  sream  of  Red  river 
is  made  up  mostly  of  wide  valleys  and  high  table  lands  called 
mesa  in  Spanish.  These  vary  in  extent  from  a  mile  or  less  to 


58  LITTLE  PILLS 

several  miles  and  near  the  river  the  country  is  broken  up  by 
frequent  canons.  It  was  a  beautiful  country  to  look  at  but  it 
was,  of  course,  entirely  uninhabited  except  by  prairie  dogs  and 
wild  game  and  buffalo  were  plentiful,  and  I  recall  one  bunch  of 
wild  horses. 

We  came  on  them  unawares,  going  up  from  a  wide  valley 
to  a  mesa  or  table  land,  and  they  were  grazing  some  three  or 
four  hundred  yards  from  the  edge  of  the  mesa.  It  was  astonish- 
ing how  quickly  they  were  bunched  up,  the  colts  in  the  middle, 
the  mares  on  the  flanks  and  the  stallions  in  the  lead,  going 
full  speed  to  get  away.  When  we  came  to  the  edge  of  the  mesa 
again  they  had  crossed  a  wide  valley  and  were  going  up  on  an- 
ther mesa  several  miles  away  still  at  full  speed.  They  were 
a  beautiful  bunch  of  animals,  a  reddish  roan  in  color,  long  tails 
and  manes,  and  in  size  much  larger  than  the  Indian  ponies,  but 
were  of  a  pony  build  and  smaller  than  our  best  .roadsters. 

Prairie  dog  villages  were  numerous.  We  went  through  one 
that  must  have  been  four  or  five  miless  in  extent. 

We  had  an  early  dinner  that  day,  and  concluded  to  start 
on  bur  return  march,  and  about  five  o'clock  in  the  evening  we 
came  to  a  pretty  little  valley  with  numerous  water  holes  and 
some  dead  timber  and  went  into  camp. 

I  took  my  shotgun  and  was  having  some  good  sport  with 
the  ducks  when  Mr.  Spencer's  orderly  came  to  me  and  said, 
"the  lieutenant's  compliments  and  he  would  like  some  matches  to 
start  a  fire."  I  replied,  'give  the  lieutenant  my  compliments 
and  tell  him  1}  gave  the  matches  to  the  trooper  to  start  a  fire  to 
heat  the  picket  pins,  and  have  not  seen  them  since."  When 
I  returned  to  camp  and  was  within  hearing  distance  I  saw  two 
men  riding  away  and  heard  Mr.  Spencer  hallow  and  say,  "Cor- 
poral, it  will  be  about  midnight  when  you  get  back,  and  we  will 
have  a  bonfire  on  the  hill  for  you  as  a  guide  to  our  camp." 
When  I  got  close  enough  I  said,  "Spencer,  how  are  you  going  to 
get  a  fire?"  and  then  it  dawned  on  him  that  we  had  no 
matches.  "My  God,"  h  said,  "I  never  thought  of  that."  But  the 
men  had  gone  at  full  gallop  and  we  let  them  go.  I  thought  of 


LITTLE  PILLS  59 

the  powder  I  used  in  my  shotgun  and  thought  I  would  try  an 
experiment.  That  was  when  muzzle  loaders  were  still  in  vogue, 
the  breechloader  not  having  come  into  general  use,  and  I  cut 
a  hole  in  the  lining  of  my  coat  where  it  was  padded  about  the 
shoulders  and  took  out  some  cotton  wadding  which  I  tamped 
lightly  down  on  the  powder  in  the  gun.  At  first  I  had  too 
much  powder  and  it  would  not  work  but  after  a  few  trials  the 
wadding  caught  fire  and  with  some  dry  sticks  for  kindling  we 
soon  had  a  fire  under  way  and  Mr.  Spencer  had  his  bonfire  on 
the  hill  that  night.  The  corporal  and  the  careless  troopers  who 
had  left  the  matches  at  our  midday  camp  returned  before  mid- 
night having  made  the  round  trip  of  about  twenty-eight  miles 
for  a  little  box  of  matches. 

The  following  day  was  uneventful  until  toward  night.  Some 
troopers  who  had  permission  were  out  hunting.  We  had  heard 
a  shot  occasionally  but  attached  no  importance  to  it,  but  late  in 
the  afternoon  an  Indian  or  two  were  seen  off  on  the  hills  to  the 
north  and  in  a  little  while  they  became  numerous  enough  to 
creat6  some  apprehension.  It  developed  that  one  of  the  fool 
troopers  had  taken  a  shot  at  one  of  them,  but  fortunately  had 
missed  him  and  by  nightfall  there  were  great  numbers  of  them 
in  sight. 

We  soon  found  a  little  water  hole  and  went  into  camp  and 
made  the  best  preparation  we  could  for  trouble  if  it  came.  We 
got  everything  close  about  the  water  supply  and  the  horses 
lariated  close  around  us  and  awaited  results.  Soon  the  advance 
guard  of  the  Indians  appeared  in  perfect  alignment  silhouetted 
agairist  the  western  sky  and  Mr.  Spencer  with  two  men  went 
out  to  meet  them.  Explanations  and  apologies  followed,  but 
before  the  parley  was  over  they  informed  Mr.  Spencer  that  if 
they  had  found  us  to  have  been  soldiers  from  Texas  they  in- 
tended to  make  a  clean  sweep  of  it,  but  as  we  were  from  Fort 
Sill  they  wanted  to  be  friends.  I  have  often  thought  it  was  for- 
tunate for  us  that  we  were  from  Fort  Sill,  as  they  outnumbered 
us  twenty  or  more  to  one.  We  waited  a  half  hour  or  more  after 
they  had  gone  and  then  quietly  mountecl  and  rode  away,  not  a 
man  saying  a  word  until  we  felt  that  we  were  out  of  danger. 


60  LITTLE  PILLS 

We  camped  again  about  midnight  and  saw  no  more  of  the  In- 
dians. 

The  following  morning  I  had  taken  my  gun  and  gone  ahead 
a  mile  or  so  and  came  down  off  the  mesa  and  found  a  pony  in 
the  valley  below.  I  rode  up  to  it  and  tried  to  catch  it  but  it  would 
not  allow  me  to  get  close  enough.  I  then  waited  until  the  com- 
mand came  up.  The  column  marching  in  twos  separated  at  the 
order  right  and  left  oblique  march  and  made  a  V  shape  that 
surrounded  the  pony  and  we  took  him  along  with  us.  We  soon 
came  to  the  trail  where  the  Indians  had  crossed,  a  very  wide  one, 
showing  that  great  numbers  had  passed.  There  were  other 
evidences  of  their  having  been  on  a  raid  in  Texas;  some  bed 
ticking  and  feathers,  some  pieces  of  clothing,  evidently  taken 
from  some  settler  whom  they  had  probably  murdered  and  scalp- 
ed. The  pony  had  a  sore  back  and  had  evidently  been  abandoned 
as  useless  and  a  hindrance  on  their  march. 

Although  it  was  a  long  day's  march  we  concluded  to  try  and 
make  the  camp  at  Cache  creek  that  night,  which  we  did,  getting 
in  very  late.  We  had  come  by  compass  directly  across  country 
from  the  junction  of  the  two  forks  of  Red  river  instead  of  follow- 
ing the  stream  as  we  did  going  up. 

We  captured  a  young  antelope,  the  last  day  out,  and  one  of 
the  troopers  carried  it  on  the  saddle  in  front  of  him  into  camp. 
It  lived  until  we  were  back  at  Fort  Sill  some  time,  but  that  kind 
of  life  was  too  hard  for  it  and  it  gave  up  the  struggle. 

There  was  plenty  of  game  in  the  country  around  the  camp 
at  Cache  creek.  Turkeys  were  very  abundant  and  duck  shooting 
was  good  in  season,  and  the  fishing  was  fine.  I  have  always  re- 
gretted my  impulsive  disposition  when  thinking  of  my  first  shot 
at  turkeys  near  this  camp.  When  the  command  was  nearing  the 
mouth  of  Cache  creek  from  Fort  Sill,  I  had  taken  my  last  ob- 
servation with  the  compass  and  directed  the  ambulance  driver  to 
a  point  indicated,  and  went  ahead  of  the  command  to  select  the 
camp.  Having  decided  on  a  desirable  place  I  went  down  stream 
a  little  distance  and  heard  some  turkeys  making  a  great  ado 
about  something.  I  got  down  on  a  sand  bar  and  slipped  along 
the  river  bank  until  I  thought  I  was  at  the  right  place  for  a  shot. 


LITTLE  PILLS  61 

On  looking  over  the  bank  I  discovered  that  there  was  quite  a 
bunch  of  turkeys  standing  around  in  a  circle  and  making  a  great 
chatter.  I  fired  into  them  without  waiting  to  see  what  caused 
such  a  commotion,  and  when  I  was  near  where  two  of  them  lay 
an  immense  diamond  rattler  uncoiled  and  glided  away.  What 
would  have  happened  if  I  had  waited?  Would  the  turkeys  have 
killed  the  snake,  or  the  snake  some  of  the  turkeys,  or  would  the 
turkeys  have  gotten  tired  of  the  game  and  quit?  I  have  often 
asked  myself  these  questions.  Does  anybody  know?  If  so  I 
would  like  to  hear  their  comment.  While  in  that  camp  we  killed 
two  diamond  rattlers,  one  six  feet  and  the  other  six  feet,  four 
inches  in  length.  It  may  be  that  one  of  them  was  among  my 
first  acquaintances  in  that  camp. 

There  was  a  turkey  roost  some  three  mies  above  camp  where 
we  generally  got  our  supply  of  turkeys.  A  young  son  of  General 
Grierson,  having  returned  from  school  for  his  summer  vacation, 
came  down  to  our  camp,  and  was  enthusiastic  for  a  visit  to  the 
turkey  roost,  so  we  arranged  to  go  the  following  evening,  and 
got  permission  to  take  a  couple  of  troop  horses  for  the  purpose, 
a  thing  not  provided  for  in  the  regulations.  When  we  had 
reached  the  timber  we  left  the  trail  and  hunted  for  a  secure  place 
to  tie  our  horses,  as  dense  a  thicket  as  we  could  find.  We  found 
a  place  where  we  thought  they  would  be  secure  and  from  there 
walked  to  the  roost,  a  short  distance  away,  and  sat  down  and 
waited  for  the  birds  to  come  in,.  We  did  not  have  long  to  wait 
until  we  could  hear  the  sound  of  wings,  and  they  commenced 
lighting  in  the  tree  tops  above  us.  We  waited  until  they  were 
well  settled  before  shooting.  It  had  been  a  warm  day  and  by 
this  time  was  murky  and  getting  quite  dark,  and  we  had  diffi- 
culty in  marking  our  birds,  but  we  soon  had  four  handsome  ones 
and  gathered  them  up  and  started  to  find  our  horses.  I  was 
confident  I  had  observed  closely  the  directions  and  distance  we 
had  gone  from  the  trail  and  also  from  the  horses  to  the  roost,  but 
we  failed  to  find  them  where  we  expected.  It  was  pitch  dark  by 
this  time  and  very  still  and  we  tramped  the  neighborhood  where 
we  thought  we  had  left  them,  and  then  sat  down  and  waited, 
hoping  they  might  neigh  or  make  some  noise  and  thus  guide  us 


62  LITTLE  PILLS 

to  them.  When  this  failed  we  went  to  the  trail  and  by  lighting 
matches  found  where  we  had  left  it,  and  from  there  we  followed 
the  course  that  we  thought  would  take  us  to  the  thicket  where 
we  had  left  the  horses.  We  found  it,  or  thought  we  had,  and 
tramped  it  over  toroughly  without  finding  them.  We  carried  our 
guns  and  turkeys  with  us,  not  daring  to  put  them  down  for  fear 
we  would  lose  them.  We  finally  concluded  some  thieving  Indians 
had  watched  us  and  had  followed  us  into  the  timber  and  stolen 
our  horses,  and  so  we  started  for  the  camp  on  foot.  It  was  a 
hot,  sultry  night  and  I  soon  began  to  think  three  turkeys  and  a 
shotgun  a  good  deal  of  a  load  and  when  I  inquired  of  my  com- 
panion how  he  was  making  it  he  admitted  that  he  was  getting 
a  little  tired.  We  rested  a  little  bit  and  started  again,  I  having 
taken  his  bird,  much  against  his  protest,  and  by  frequent  rests 
on  the  way  we  got  into  camp  between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock,  a 
very  tired  pair  of  hunters.  I  sent  for  the  sargeant  of  the  guard 
and  told  him  I  wished  to  be  awakened  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing. The  young  lad  insisted  that  he  would  go  with  me  but  I  told 
him  no,  that  he  was  too  tired  and  had  better  sleep  and  that  I 
could  get  the  horses  if  they  were  there.  At  four  o'clock,  how- 
ever, he  was  up  as  quick  as  I  was  and  we  were  soon  on  the  way 
afoot  to  the  turkey  roost.  We  found  the  horses  just  where  we 
had  tied  them  and  I  felt  greatly  relieved,  not  only  because  it 
saved  me  the  price  of  two  valuable  horses  but  because  it  saved  the 
captain  of  the  company  who  loaned  them,  as  well  as  myself,  a 
severe  reprimand.  I  came  to  have  a  great  admiration  for  the 
pluck  and  manliness  of  my  young  hunter  friend,  and  if  he  is  an 
officer  in  the  service  now,  as  many  of  the  sons  of  my  army  ac- 
quaintances are,  and  he  should  ever  see  this  story  of  army  life 
on  the  frontier,  I  wish  here  and  now  to  present  him  my  compli- 
ments, and  would  like  to  hear  from  him. 

We  had  an  abundance  of  fish  while  at  this  camp.  The  quar- 
termaster had  built  us  a  little  boat  so  we  could  stretch  trotlines 
across  the  stream  and  we  not  only  had  the  officers'  mess  well 
supplied  but  often  had  plenty  for  the  men  of  the  command. 

A  few  days  after  we  had  returned  from  the  North  fork  or 
Red  river,  Captain  Norvel's  troop  of  cavalry  was  ordered  out  on 


LITTLE  PILLS  63 

a  scout  down  the  valley  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  and  I  was 
ordered  to  accompany  the  command.  We  started  late  in  the 
afternoon  and  by  evening  it  commenced  a  drizzling  rain.  We 
went  into  camp  about  dark  but  did  not  unwrap  our  blankets  as 
expected  to  be  out  some  days  and  did  not  wish  them  to  get  wet. 
The  blankets  in  a  scout  like  this  are  made  into  a  roll  and  wrapped 
in  a  poncho  or  oil  cloth  covering  and  fastened  up  against  the 
cantle  of  the  saddle  by  straps  which  are  always  a  part  of  the 
equipment  of  the  army  saddle.  The  captain  and  I  placed  our 
rolls  of  blankets  at  the  foot  of  a  big  tree  and  with  our  water- 
proof to  protect  us  against  the  rain,  sat  down  on  them  until  the 
shower  should  be  over.  It  never  let  up  raining  during  the  whole 
night,  and  there  we  sat  dozing  and  talking  by  spells  until  morn- 
ing. Soon  after  daylight  a  messenger  arrived  with  orders  to  re- 
turn to  camp. 

We  found  nearly  everything  ready  for  the  return  trip  to 
Fort  Sill  and  were  soon  on  the  way.  We  had  already  heard  that 
General  Sherman  and  staff,  Colonels  Marcey,  Audenried  and 
Tourtellotte,  were  there  on  an  inspection  trip  of  the  military 
posts  of  the  west.  They  had  come  by  way  of  Texas  and  were 
fully  informed  of  the  doings  of  the  large  band  of  Indians  with 
whom  we  had  our  little  pow-wow  and  whose  horse  we  had  cap- 
tured, and  whose  trail  we  had  crossed  on  our  return  from  the 
north  fork  of  Red  river  to  the  camp  on  Cache  creek.  They  had 
also  learned  that  they  came  very  near  being  in  line  with  the 
depradations  committed.  This  band  had  not  only  burned  houses 
and  killed  settlers  but  had  also  captured  a  government  wagon 
train  and  had  tied  the  teamster  to  the  wagon  and  having  looted 
the  train  of  all  they  wanted,  burned  the  teamsters  with  the 
wagons  and  contents.  The  young  bucks  on  their  return  to  the 
reservation,  and  feeling  secure  at  Fort  Sill  had  bragged  about  it. 
The  names  of  the  leaders  in  the  raid  were  known  and  the  matter 
could  not  be  overlooked  by  General  Grierson,  but  he  was  power- 
less without  the  authority  of  Mr.  Tatum,  the  Indian  agent.  This 
always  struck  me  as  a  ridiculous  phase  of  our  Indian  policy. 

It  was  a  universal  feeling  in  the  army  that  the  war  depart- 
ment should  have  the  exclusive  control  and  management  of  the 


64  LITTLE  PILLS 

Indian  problems,  instead  of  the  interior  department,  but  I  sup- 
pose politics,  the  bane  of  the  country  in  so  many  ways,  ruled  in 
Washington  then  as  it  does  now,  and  it  was  to  the  interests  of 
the  politicians  to  have  it  where  it  was.  General  Grant  was  at 
this  time  President  and  had  served  as  a  young  army  officer  on 
the  frontier  and  knew  better.  The  Republicans  were  in  control 
of  congress  but  it  would  have  been  the  same  with  any  other 
political  party  in  control,  and  was  probably  the  worst  that  could 
have  been  done.  Mr.  Tatum  was  fully  informed  of  the  raid  and 
the  leaders  in  it,  and  called  for  a  pow-wow  at  General  Grierson's 
quarters.  A  number  of  Indian  chiefs  came  in  to  talk  the  matter 
over,  among  them  being  Satanta,  the  war  chief  of  the  Kiowas; 
Big  Tree,  a  young  chief  of  the  same  tribe,  and  Satank,  an  old 
and  wizzened  up  and  vicious  looking  Indian,  and  council  chief 
among  the  Kiowas;  all  known  to  have  been  in  the  raid.  There 
was  a  heavy  guard  standing  around  the  quarters  ready  for  any 
emergency.  Mi*.  Tatum  had  demanded  the  surrender  of  the 
guilty  parties.  While  the  pow-wow  was  in  progress  Lone  Wolf, 
chief  of  the  Comanches,  came  among  them,  a  rifle  in  each  hand, 
and  a  couple  of  bows  and  a  quiver  full  of  arrows  swung  over  his 
back.  I  suppose  it  was  a  pre-concerted  arrangement  among  the 
Indians  for  he  handed  one  gun  to  an  Indian  near  him,  and  a 
couple  of  Indians  behind  him  grabbed  the  bows  and  arrows  and 
in  an  instant  these  were  pointed  at  the  breast  of  Mr.  Tatum, 
General  Grierson,  General  Sherman,  and  other  officers  present. 
I  suppose  the  click,  click,  click  of  the  rifles  as  the  guard  cocked 
and  brought  them  to  shoulder,  gave  Lone  Wolf  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  bloody  work  at  hand,  for  he  raised  one  hand  and 
said  'No  shoot!  No  shoot!"  and  by  the  interpreter  explained 
that  it  was  only  a  joke  and  that  he  did  not  intend  to  hurt  any- 
body. Tht  interpreter  reported  afterwards  that  he  had  also  said 
when  presenting  these  guns  to  the  breasts  of  those  men  men- 
tioned, "Now  let  these  men  go  and  we  can  fix  things  up  all 
right."  During  the  excitement  Big  Tree  broke  away  from  the 
crowd  and  mounted  a  horse  near  by,  and  tried  to  escape  but  the 
garrison  was  wide  awake  to  the  condition  of  things,  and  after  a 
shot  or  two  he  surrendered.  He  and  Satanta  and  Satank  were 


LITTLE  PILLS  65 

put  in  the  guard-house,  a  newly  built  one  at  the  new  post,  and  a 
strong  guard  placed  about  the  building,  until  they  were  removed 
to  Texas  to  be  tried  by  the  civil  authorities. 

We  arrived  at  Fort  Sill  from  our  camp  on  Cache  creek  a  day 
or  two  after  these  occurrences  but  I  got  the  details  of  the  inci- 
dent from  officers  present  and  from  my  wife  who  remembers 
them  better  than  I  do.  Promptly  after  the  depredations  had  been 
committeed  General  Mackenzie  of  the  Department  of  Texas  with 
several  troops  of  cavalry  got  on  the  trail  of  these  Indians  and  had 
followed  it  up  into  the  territory  and  into  the  Wichita  mountains 
and  from  there  to  Fort  Sill  and  arrived  at  the  post  shortly  after 
our  return  from  camp. 

After  resting  his  troops  for  a  few  days  General  Mackenzie 
was  ready  for  the  march  back  to  Texas  with  his  prisoners.  Quite 
a  number  of  officers  were  present  to  witness  their  departure.  I 
was  standing  next  to  Mr.  Jones,  the  interpreter,  when  they  were 
brought  out  of  the  guard-house,  all  hand-cuffed,  and  all  in  the 
usual  blanket  attire  of  the  Indians.  When  old  Satank  appeared 
he  set  up  the  most  weird  and  doleful  sing-song  wail  I  ever  heard, 
and  his  face  I  thought  was  not  so  vicious  looking  as  usual,  but 
was  more  solemn  and  maybe  with  a  trace  of  sadness  in  it.  I 
asked  Mr.  Jones  what  it  meant,  and  he  replied  in  an  undertone, 
"It  means  he  ain't  going  far." 

Satanta  and  Big  Tree  were  placed  in  one  wagon  with  guards 
sitting  behind  them  and  Satank  in  another  wagon  with  one  of 
the  sergeants  sitting  beside  him  and  guards  behind  and  when  the 
columns  were  formed  troopers  rode  alongside  the  wagons  and  in 
this  formation  they  left  the  post.  When  in  the  valley  south 
of  the  post  and  probably  a  couple  of  miles  away  we  heard  the 
report  of  firearms  from  that  direction.  Soon  a  messenger  ar- 
rived with  the  compliments  of  General  Mackenzie  and  requested 
that  an  ambulance  be  sent  for  a  trooper  who  had  been  wounded. 
He  also  gave  the  essential  particulars  of  what  occurred.  It 
seems  that  by  some  means  unknown,  Satank  had  a  knife  hidden 
about  his  person  somewhere  and  although  hand-cuffed  had  got 
possession  of  it  and  stabbed  the  sergeant  sitting  next  to  him 
and  then  grabbed  the  sergeant's  gun  and  shot  the  teamster. 


66  LITTLE  PILLS 

The  sergeant's  wound  was  only  slight  and  he  went  forward  with 
the  command,  but  the  teamster  was  shot  through  one  side  of 
the  neck  and  fell  from  his  saddle  and  was  brought  back  to  the 
post  hospital  for  treatment.  It  proved  to  be  only  a  deep  flesh 
wound  and  he  was  soon  discharged  from  the  hospital,  and  re- 
turned to  his  own  command.  When  the  guards  realized  the  state 
of  affairs  they  made  short  work  of  it,  and  Satank  was  laid  by 
the  roadside  and  General  Grierson  sent  a  squad  of  soldiers  and 
buried  him  there  in  his  blankets.  It  was  his  death  song  that 
had  so  impressed  me  as  they  brought  him  from  the  guard-house. 
Satanta  and  Big  Tree  were  tried  and  convicted  in  Texas  and 
sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  life.  It  was  reported  in  the 
papers  some  years  afterwards  that  Satanta  jumped  out  of  a 
window  at  the  prison  and  killed  himself  and  it  was  rumored  that 
Big  Tree  had  hung  himself,  but  so  far  as  I  know  this  was  not 
confirmed. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  first  time  I  saw  General  Sherman  was  at  Rome,  Georgia, 
during  the  Civil  war.  I  was  in  the  field  hospital  there  at  that 
time  and  was  in  the  dispensary  one  day  when  my  attention  was 
called  to  some  military  procession  on  the  street.  It  turned  out 
to  be  only  General  Sherman  and  his  staff,  the  general  riding 
alone  in  front,  his  orderly  a  few  yards  behind,  and  a  few  yards 
farther  back  the  general  staff  officers.  The  procession,  if  it 
could  be  so  called,  impressed  me;  first  the  isolated  position  of 
the  commanding  officer.  I  thought  of  pictures  I  had  seen  of 
Napoleon,  always  alone,  and  while  I  could  not  see  the  general's 
face  to  advantage,  for  he  looked  neither  to  the  right  or  left,  I 
thought  him  a  stern,  unbending,  self -centered,  iron-hearted  mil- 
itary despot,  without  sentiment  or  generous  impulse.  I  saw  him 
often  thereafter,  for  I  was  with  his  command  from  "Atlanta  to 
the  Sea"  and  up  through  the  Carolinas,  and  he  was  always 
alone  on  horse-back  and  in  the  order  mentioned.  I  never  saw 
him  in  company  with  anybody.  Fhad  occasion  to  change  my 
impression  regarding  him  somewhat  at  the  battle  of  Bentonville. 
We  had  marched  all  night  to  reach  the  battlefield  in  time  to  take 
part  in  the  engagement,  and  arrived  on  the  ground  early  in  the 
afternoon.  As  it  happened,  we  stopped  near  the  general's  head- 
quarters. The  battle  was  in  progress  and  as  we  could  not  go 
into  the  trenches  until  night,  I  had  a  good  opportunity  of  ob- 
serving him  during  the  afternoon.  He  was  walking  back  and 
forth  along  a  space  of  ground  a  hundred  feet  or  more  in  extent 
and  when  there  was  a  lull  in  the  firing  he  would  slow  up  to  a 
very  moderate  walk,  but  when  it  became  heavy  his  pace  would 
increase  and  when  it  became  a  roar,  as  it  did  several  times  in  the 
afternoon,  he  would  go  at  great  strides  back  and  forth,  back  and 
forth,  until  it  would  again  quiet  down,  when  he  would  slow  up 
in  harmony  with  the  lull  in  the  battle.  From  this  I  learned  that 
he  was  at  least  impressionable.  Officers  would  arrive  from  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  field  and  report,  and  instantly  receive  orders 
and  return  at  full  speed  as  they  came. 


68  LITTLE  PILLS 

From  that  time  I  never  saw  him  until  at  Fort  Sill  at  a 
"hop"  given  by  Colonel  Carpenter  in  his  new  quarters  at  the 
post.  Here  I  had  to  again  change  my  impression  of  the  general. 
He  was  one  of  the  most  cordial  of  men;  he  seemed  to  know 
everybody,  and  I  was  told  seldom  forgot  a  name  or  a  face.  He 
had  the  remarkable  gift  of  making  everyone  feel  that  he  was 
an  old  acquaintance,  and  he  entered  into  the  amusements  of  the 
evening,  mostly  dancing,  with  zest,  and  after  supper  went  with 
the  officers  to  the  front  porch  to  smoke  and  talk.  He  ridiculed 
the  idea  of  being  a  candidate  for  the  presidency,  saying  he  did 
not  possess  the  temperament  or  disposition  that  seemed  neces- 
sary to  qualify  one  for  holding  an  office  where  there  were  so 
many  adverse  interests  to  consider,  and  where  they  were  so  fre- 
quently presented  from  questionable  motives,  but  as  far  as  I  re- 
member he  admitted  no  preference  for  political  parties.  How- 
ever, he  did  express  a  desire  to  pass  his  old  age  in  a  quiet  way, 
and  free  from  political  strife.  He  left  the  crowd  on  the  porch 
before  all  were  through  smoking,  and  joined  the  ladies  with 
whom  he  seemed  to  enjoy  himself  as  much  or  more  than  with 
the  men.  I  though  him  a  rather  awkward  dancer  but  he  took 
part  with  apparent  enthusiasm. 

After  General  Sherman  and  his  party  had  left  the  post  the 
feeling  of  uneasiness  increased  in  the  camp,  and  General  Grier- 
son  ordered  the  remaining  officers  into  the  new  post  which  was 
being  built.  It  fell  to  our  lot  to  be  quartered  with  Mr.  Spencer 
and  wife  and  except  for  losing  a  good  servant  we  found  it  a  pleas- 
ant change,  and  were  relieved  of  all  apprehension  regarding 
Indians. 

There  was  a  band-stand  in  the  center  of  the  parade  ground 
and  the  Tenth  Cavalry  band  was  an  excellent  one,  and  in  the 
summer  evenings  when  retreat  had  been  sounded  by  the  buglers 
and  the  signal  gun  fired  "just  as  the  sun  went  down,"  the  band 
struck  up  and  gave  us  very  delightful  music  for  an  hour  or  so. 
At  such  times  the  families  of  the  officers  would  be  sitting  on  the 
front  porches  of  their  quarters  or  visiting  with  others  and  chat- 
ting and  listening  to  the  music. 


LITTLE  PILLS  69 

The  bugle  calls  at  the  army  posts  were  always  interesting 
to  me,  and  seemed  to  convey  the  idea  intended  almost  as  well 
as  words.  A  number  of  them  have  words  set  to  the  music,  if 
it  can  be  so  called,  as  'Give  your  horses  some  corn  and  some 
hayw  for  stable  call,  and  'Take  your  quinine"  for  sick  call. 
Reveille  had  a  rousing,  get-up  quality  about  it.  Sick  call  was 
for  those  who  had  only  slight  ailments  and  were  treated  at  the 
hospital  and  returned  to  duty,  or  if  found  to  be  something 
serious  enough,  were  sent  to  one  of  the  wards  in  the  hospital  for 
treatment.  Maybe  a  so-called  bilious  condition  or  a  scratch  on 
the  hand,  or  if  a  colored  soldier  a  "misery,"  or  he  was  "powerful 
weak."  There  were  not  many  maligners,  and  they  were  soon 
detected.  In  the  cavalry  drill  there  are  many  bugle  calls  for 
the  different  evolutions.  The  bugler  rides  near  the  commanding 
officer  and  receives  the  orders  and  transmits  them  by  bugle  to 
the  command.  Of  all  the  bugle  calls  in  the  service  "Taps"  the 
last  call  at  night,  affected  me  most.  It  has  all  the  quality  of  our 
good-bye  or  goodnight,  but  to  me  it  had  much  more.  To  me  our 
good-bye  conveys  only  the  idea  of  separation,  and  I  like  the 
Spanish  word  'Adios"  much  better.  It  not  only  conveys  the  idea 
of  separation  but  also  the  sentiment  "God  be  with  you"  and  so 
"Taps"  always  impressed  me  "Good-night,,  and  God  be  with 
you,'  and  as  the  last  prolonged  note  died  away  the  lights  went 
out  and  everything  was  still.  This  did  not  apply  to  the  officers 
when  at  the  post,  and  they  and  their  families  could  enjoy  them- 
selves in  their  own  way,  and  could  put  out  their  lights  early 
or  late. 

Toward  the  latter  part  of  June,  1871  a  command  came  up 
from  the  Department  of  Texas  on  its  way  to  the  military  posts 
in  Kansas.  The  medical  officer  accompanying  it  returned  from 
Fort  Sill  to  his  own  department  and  post,  and  I  was  ordered  to 
accompany  the  command  to  Kansas.  My  recollection  is  that 
there  were  three  companies.  In  this  command  were  two  young 
officers,  lieutenants,  not  long  out  of  West  Point,  who  proved 
very  charming  companions.  One  was  a  Mr.  Reese  from  Ken- 
tucky and  the  other  was  a  Mr.  Parker  from  Connecticut,  a  son 


70  LITTLE  PILLS 

of  the  maker  of  the  famous  Parker  shotgun,  generally  thought 
to   be  the  best  to  be  had   in  those  days. 

The  first  thing  of  special  interest  on  this  march  was  when 
we  had  gone  into  camp  about  sixty  miles  north  of  Fort  Sill, 
which  was  the  second  day  out.  This  was  about  four  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  to  give  the  horses  and  transportation  mules  a 
chance  to  graze.  I  happened  to  look  back  in  the  direction  of  our 
march  and  saw  a  small  black  object  far  in  the  distance  that  I 
could  not  make  out.  I  borrowed  field  glasses  of  one  of  the 
captains  and  discovered  it  to  be  a  horse  and  buggy.  I  became 
quite  curious  about  it,  as  I  did  not  think  any  sane  man  would 
travel  through  that  Indian  country  alone  for  any  consideration. 
I  would  not  have  done  so  for  all  the  money  in  the  mint  unless  in 
military  dress.  He  came  directly  to  our  camp  and  I  walked  out 
to  meet  him.  He  proved  to  be  Father  Poncelona  of  Osage  Mis- 
sion, now  St.  Paul,  Kansas,  who  had  been  down  to  Fort  Sill  to 
baptise  the  children  and  give  what  comfort  he  could  to  the  fol- 
lowers of  his  faith  at  that  post.  He  was  very  tired  for  he  had 
started  before  daylight,  and  had  driven  all  day  hoping  to  find 
our  camp  somewhere,  but  he  did  not  know  where.  I  took  him  to 
my  tent  and  insisted  on  him  lying  down  on  my  cot,  which  he  dir1 
under  protest,  and  E  brought  him  some  brandy  which  he  drank 
with  seeming  relish,  and  by  the  time  dinner  was  ready  he  was 
ready  to  join  us.  I  asked  him  how  he  came  to  take  such  chances 
alone.  He  said  it  was  part  of  his  work  and  that  there  was  a 
higher  power  (pointing  his  finger  upwards)  that  would  take  care 
of  those  who  were  doing  God's  service.  He  was  past  middle 
age  and  had  spent  most  of  his  life  since  taking  orders  as  a  mis- 
sionary among  the  Indians.  He  had  a  benign  faith-abiding  ex- 
pression of  face,  such  as  I  have  never  seen  on  any  other  man, 
and  his  voice  was  low  and  musical,  and  his  manner  most  win- 
ning. I  had  some  difficulty  in  geting  him  to  take  my  cot  for  the 
night,  he  insisting  that  he  was  used  to  sleeping  on  the  ground 
and  did  not  mind  it.  I  finally  told  him  that  I  was  boss  of  the 
ranch,  and  he  must  do  as  I  told  him.  To  this  he  smilingly  as- 
sented, and  said  that  if  it  was  orders  he  would  have  to  obey. 
We  always  had  breakfast  and  broke  camp  early  in  the  morning 


LITTLE  PILLS  71 

and  aimed  if  a  suitable  campground  could  be  found  to  go  into 
camp  by  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.,  The  priest  had  ex- 
pressed a  wish  for  an  early  start,  and  I  had  ordered  his  horse 
and  buggy  to  be  ready  for  him,  and  he  had  breakfast  with  us 
and  went  his  way  across  the  prairie  and  was  soon  out  of  sight 
In  the  direction  of  Camp  Supply  where  he  intended  going.  I 
have  often  thought  of  this  and  wondered  at  it.  Why  did  he 
do  it?  It  was  not  for  money  for  he  was  poor  and  had  spent 
years  at  the  work.  What  motive  had  he?  What  guardian  angel 
accompanied  him  and  kept  him  from  harm?  If  it  is  true  that 
there  is  a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends,  why  are  they  shaped 
so  differently,  and  why  is  it  that  some  are  immune  where  others 
fear  to  tread?  Right  here  I  think  it  proper  to  say  that  the 
Catholic  priests  have  always  been  the  pioneers  in  religious  mat- 
ters on  the  frontier. 

During  this  trip  Mr.  Reese  and  Mr.  Parker  and  myself 
rode  ahead  one  afternoon  to  select  camp.  We  went  at  good 
speed  and  were  soon  out  of  sight  of  the  command  when  Mr. 
Reese  discovered  he  had  lost  his  pocket  book.  He  was  quarter- 
master and  it  contained  about  fifteen  hundred  dollars  of  govern- 
ment money.  He  was  sure  he  had  taken  it  from  under  his  pil- 
low in  the  morning  and  he  became  quite  nervous  about  it.  He 
referred  to  his  loss  several  times  before  the  command  came  up 
with,  'Well,  if  I  am  mistaken  and  Andy  (his  old  negro  servant 
whom  he  had  brought  from  Kentucky)  got  it  I  am  all  right,  and 
I  will  quit  talking  about  it."  But  he  was  ill  at  ease  and  went  out 
to  meet  the  command  as  it  approached  and  we  could  see  the 
old  darky  take  something  from  his  pocket  and  give  it  to  Mr. 
Reese  who  came  back  smiling  and  told  us  Andy  said,  "Oh  yes, 
Massa,  I  just  got  it  right  down  here,  I  done  found  it  under  your 
pillow"  and  this  illustrates  a  phase  of  negro  character  quite  in 
contrast  with  my  political  experience  with  Stanton. 

Mr.  Reese,  Mr.  Parker  and  I  generally  rode  together  on  this 
inarch  and  were  seldom  out  of  sight  or  hearing  of  prairie  dogs. 
It  was  suggested  one  day  that  maybe  they  woud  be  good  to  eat. 
Knowing  that  they  were  not  dogs  at  all  but  rather  a  kind  of 
marmot,  and  sometimes  called  so,  and  are  strict  vegetarians,  we 


72  LITTLE  PILLS 

killed  a  young  one  and  had  it  for  dinner.  I  was  quite  pleased 
with  the  experiment  before  trying  it,  and  was  not  particularly 
enthusiastic  about  it  afterwards.  It  was  not  very  bad  but  was 
not  very  good.  It  tasted  something  like  rabbit  but  I  think  mostly 
like  prairie  dog.  At  one  time  in  my  life  I  wanted  to  try  almost 
everything  that  was  brought  to  bag  in  my  hunting  experiences 
and  I  have  tested  worse  things  than  prairie  dogs,  and  I  think 
that  if  one  were  hungry  enough  he  might  relish  it. 

We  crossed  the  line  into  Kansas  about  the  last  of  July  and 
soon  saw  a  new  house  away  to  the  front,  a  thing  we  had  not 
seen  since  leaving  Fort  Sill.  It  proved  to  be  a  kind  of  business 
and  residence  combination  and  was  the  first  house  in  what  is 
now  known  as  Caldwell,  Kansas,  now  the  county  seat  of  one  of 
the  famous  wheat  counties  of  Kansas,  and  a  thriving  city.  The 
contrast  between  the  two  sides  of  the  land  separating  Kansas 
and  the  Indian  territory  was  very  pronounced.  Small  houses 
of  settlers  and  little  patches  of  broken  ground  and  other  evi- 
dences of  an  inhabited  country  on  the  one  side,  and  nothing  but 
absolute  vacancy  on  the  other. 

At  Wichita  we  remained  three  or  four  days,  having  our 
transportation  repaired.  As  I  remember  it,  we  had  a  long  stretch 
of  sand  before  crossing  the  Arkansas  and  forded  the  river  below 
the  town  and  then  turned  to  the  west.  It  was  a  little  village  of 
one  main  street  and  I  think  they  called  it  Douglas  avenue.  The 
houses  were  small  but  neat,  and  being  the  first  town  I  had  seen 
for  a  year  or  two  it  looked  very  attractive.  We  were  there 
over  the  Fourth  of  July  and  I  remember  a  delightfully  clean, 
attractive  little  place  where  they  sold  ice  cream.  We  had  camped 
just  north  of  the  village  and  Mr.  Reese,  Mr.  Parker  and  I  fre- 
quently visited  the  ice  cream  parlor.  If  there  were  any  saloons 
in  the  place  I  do  not  remember  them  for  if  there  had  been 
it  would  have  probably  shown  on  the  enlisted  men  of  the  com- 
mand. 

I  do  not  remember  which  one  suggested  it,  but  we  concluded 
that  it  would  be  some  fun  to  visit  the  real  estate  offices,  of 
which  I  think  there  were  two  in  the  town,  and  hear  what  the 
agents  had  to  say.  They  treated  us  most  cordially  and  were 


LITTLE  PILLS  73 

anxious  to  show  us  around  and  told  us  what  a  wonderful  city  it 
was  going  to  be.  All  the  southwest  was  going  to  be  a  great 
wheat  country,  although  we  saw  no  wheat,  and  would  be  tribu- 
tary to  their  town  and  they  were  going  to  vote  bonds  the  fol- 
lowing Monday  for  a  railroad  from  Newton,  then  the  terminus 
of  the  Santa  Fe.  If  not  the  terminus  it  was  the  great  cattle 
shipping  point  for  the  immense  herds  that  came  up  the  hisholm 
trail  from  Texas,  the  trail  we  had  followed  some  distance  from 
Fort  Sill.  Everything  would  eventually  come  to  Wichita  and  it 
would  be  a  second  Chicago.  One  agent  offered  us  a  corner  lot 
centrally  located  for  one  hundred  dollars,  and  out  farther  to  the 
west,  or  north,  whichever  it  might  have  been,  I  don't  remember, 
on  down  to  fifteen  dollars  a  lot.  We  approved  of  the  wonderful 
prospects  for  the  town  and  told  them  we  would  consider  the 
the  matter  of  investing,  and  then  went  back  to  our  tents  and 
laughed  about  it.  We  at  least  had  an  enjoyable  hour  or  so. 

I  have  had  occasion  to  think  about  it  since,  not  with  any 
particular  feeling  of  hilarity,  but  rather  one  of  regret  that  I 
did  not  grasp  the  wonderful  possibilities  of  the  country.  Either 
of  the  three  of  us  could  have  invested  a  little  money  if  we  had 
known  enough.  After  we  had  again  started  on  the  march  I 
stopped  and  talked  with  a  man  standing  by  the  roadside  and  he 
told  me  each  alternate  section  of  the  land  was  offered  by  the 
Santa  Fe  railroad  at  two  dollars  per  acre.  It  was  a  beautiful 
valley  and  the  land  looked  rich  but  the  country  generally  looked 
very  primitive. 

One  company  left  our  command  near  here  and  I  think  went 
to  Fort  Larned  or  Fort  Dodge,  Kansas,  the  other  two  going  on 
to  the  railroad  at  Fort  Harker,  where  one  company  remained, 
and  if  I  remember  right,  one  company  went  on  to  Fort  Hayes. 
I  remained  with  Captain  Kerin's  company  at  Fort  Harker  for  a 
day  or  two  during  which  time  the  paymaster  came  and  paid  us 
for  June.  Captain  Kerin  was  a  typical  Irishman  and  his  com- 
pany, almost  without  exception  were  Irish,  and  they  were  very 
much  devoted  to  each  other.  The  captain  looked  on  his  men  very 
much  I  thought,  as  a  father  would  look  on  a  bunch  of  wayward 
children.  The  payment  was  made  by  the  middle  of  the  after- 


74  LITTLE  PILLS 

noon  and  by  night  I  think  most  of  the  men  were  drunk,  the  few 
on  guard  duty  being  about  the  only  sober  ones,  and  the  captain 
told  me  they  would  stay  that  way  until  their  money  was  all 
gone. 

A  funny  thing  occurred  that  evening.  The  captain  and  I 
were  sitting  in  his  tent  talking  when  there  was  a  scratch  at 
the  tent  cloth  and  when  the  captain  said,  "Come!"  the  flap 
was  thrown  back  and  one  of  the  sergeants  saluted  and  said: 
"Report  for  duty,  captain."  The  captain  said:  "Sergeant,  have 
ye  got  any  money?"  "Yis,  captain,  a  little."  "Go  and  spend  it, 
go  and  spend  it."  The  sergeant  saluted  and  dropped  the  tent 
flap  and  walked  away  and  the  captain  turned  to  me  and  said: 
"No  use  trying  to  do  anything  with  them  until  the  money  is 
rfpent,  and  the  whiskey  is  out  of  them."  Two  or  three  hours 
afterwards  the  sergeant  returned,  scratched  on  the  tent,  threw 
the  flap  back  as  before  and  saluted,  and  again  said  in  a  rather 
husky  voice:  "Report  for  duty,  captain."  "Sergeant,  have  you 
got  any  money  ?"  "Not  a  cint,  captain."  "Very  well,  report  to  the 
first  sergeant  for  duty."1  The  captain  told  me  this  was  a  fair 
illustration  of  his  experience  on  every  pay  day.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  that  the  captain  was  not  a  West  Point  graduate, 
but  he  was  a  royal  good  fellow  and  a  good  soldier  and  I  ob- 
served while  in  the  service  that  officers  promoted  from  the  ranks 
were  the  most  devoted  to  the  interests  and  comforts  of  their 
men.  The  trip  back  to  my  post  was  east  by  rail  to  Junction 
City  and  thence  on  the  M.,  K.  and  T.  to  its  terminus  in  the  ter- 
ritory. The  railway  was  then  under  construction  and  the  termi- 
nus was  changed  every  month  or  so.  From  the  railroad  I  went 
by  stage  to  Fort  Sill.  Nothing  of  interest  occurred  on  the  way 
until  we  arrived  at  the  last  stage  station  east  of  the  fort.  We 
had  breakfast  there  and  were  told  we  had  better  get  in  the  stage 
as  they  were  about  ready  to  start.  We  found  a  bunch  of  men 
hitching  up  a  pair  of  mules  to  a  light  stage-like  vehicle,  and  were 
told  that  they  were  just  breaking  them  in  and  that  it  was  better 
to  get  in  the  stage  first.  The  driver  was  already  up  in  his  seat 
and  Mr.  Stearns,  a  very  large  man  and  owner  of  the  ranch  where 
we  had  breakfast,  was  up  beside  the  driver,  and  was  going  with 


LITTLE  PILLS  75 

us  some  three  or  four  miles  to  where  they  had  made  a  cut-off 
that  took  us  by  a  large  spring  of  water,  the  last  we  could  get 
before  reaching  Cache  creek,  some  eighteen  miles  away.  When 
all  was  ready  and  the  driver  had  the  lines  well  in  hand  the  word 
"Go"  was  given,  and  away  we  went  at  full  speed,  much  like  a 
horse  race.  The  driver's  efforts  being  wholly  devoted  to  keep- 
ing the  team  in  the  road.  They  ran  full  speed  most  of  the  way 
to  the  springs  but  when  we  arrived  there  they  were  going  in 
a  quiet  little  trot,  seemingly  satisfied  with  the  fun  they  had  had 
on  the  way.  Mr.  Stearns  got  down  and  held  their  bits  and  the 
driver  got  down  and  we  got  out  of  the  stage — another  man  and 
myself  being  the  only  passengers — and  walked  toward  the  springs. 
I  do  not  know  how  it  happened,  but  when  one  trace  was  un- 
fastened the  mules  broke  away  from  Mr.  Stearns  and  struck  out 
over  the  prairie.  My  first  thought  was  that  we  would  have  to 
walk  back  and  wait  for  some  other  means  of  conveyance,  but  the 
off  mule  having  one  trace  unfastened  had  the  advantage  in  the 
race  and  out  over  the  prairie  they  went  in  a  great  circle,  round 
and  round  at  full  speed,  scattering  luggage  from  the  hind  boot 
of  the  stage  until  they  ran  themselves  down,  the  driver  and  Mr. 
Stearns  cutting  across  and  trying  to  catch  them.  At  last  they 
succeeded  for  the  mules  were  pretty  well  winded  by  this  time 
and  ready  to  go  slow.  We  found  nothing  broken  and  soon  had 
our  luggage  gathered  up  and  the  mules  watered  and  were  on  our 
way.  We  got  into  Fort  Sill  a  little  later  than  the  usual  stage  time, 
nothing  the  worse  for  the  wear. 

I  do  not  remember  whether  it  was  before  or  after  my  trip 
to  Fort  Harker  that  I  was  called  to  the  Indian  agency  near  Fort 
Sill  to  see  Black  Beaver,  the  chief  of  the  Delawares,  who  was  sick 
and  had  come  there  for  treatment.  I  found  him  suffering  from 
dysentery  and  was  seriously  ill,  and  as  he  was  an  old  man  I  had 
serious  doubts  as  to  his  recovery.  He  was  neither  able  nor 
disposed  to  talk  although  he  knew  enough  English  to  make  him- 
self understood,  but  after  a  few  days  he  began  to  feel  some  in- 
terest in  life  and  gradually  improved  until  he  was  convalescent. 
I  felt  particularly  interested  in  him  because  of  a  story  I  had 
read  about  him  as  interpreter  in  an  early  day  for  Colnel  Marcey 


76  LITTLE  PILLS 

who  was  one  of  General  Sherman's  staff  officers  when  they 
visited  Fort  Sill  a  short  time  before.  When  the  colonel  was  a 
young  officer  in  the  service  and  had  been  sent  out  to  make  talks 
to  the  Indians,  the  story  ran  that  the  young  officer  had  a  pow- 
wow day  appointed  with  the  Kiowas  and  Comanches,  and  when 
they  had  assembled  and  gone  through  the  preliminaries  of  such 
an  occasion  Captain  Marcey  told  them  of  the  great  benefits  the 
great  father  at  Washington  wished  to  confer  on  them,  and  wound 
up  by  saying:  "We  wish  to  put  up  poles  across  the  country  and 
string  a  wire  on  them  and  then  you  can  talk  over  that  wire  to 
the  Great  Father  in  Washington  and  not  have  to  wait  until  some 
of  your  people  travel  such  a  great  way  to  see  him.  When  he 
had  finished  he  waited  for  Black  Beaver  to  get  up  and  tell  it  to 
the  Indians,  but  Black  Beaver  did  not  move  but  hung  his  head 
and  sat  there.  Why  don't  you  tell  them,  asked  the  captain. 
Black  Beaver  shook  his  head  and  said:  'It's  no  use  to  tell  them, 
I  don't  believe  it  myself."  I  was  anxious  to  hear  Black  Beaver's 
report  of  that  pow-wow,  so  when  he  was  well  enough  I  said  to 
him  one  day:  "General  Sherman  and  staff  were  here  a  short 
time  ago  and  Colonel  Marcy  was  among  them.  I  understand 
you  knew  Colonel  Marcy  a  good  many  years  ago."  He  brightened 
up  and  said:  "Yes,  I  heard  Captain  Marcy  was  here  and  I  wish 
I  could  have  seen  him."  By  careful  questioning  I  got  the  story 
from  him  practically  as  Colonel  Marcy  had  recorded  it  in  his 
book.  I  said  to  him:  "Well,  do  you  believe  it  now?"  He  re- 
plied: "Oh,  yes,  I  know  it  now,  I  know  it  can  be  done,  but  I 
don't  know  how."  How  much  more  ignorant  was  he  than  the 
most  of  us? 

I  find  I  have  not  made  my  sketch  of  the  events  at  Fort 
Sill  in  order  of  their  occurrence  and  must  now  refer  back  to  the 
winter  of  1870  and  '71  and  we  were  still  under  canvas  in  the  camp. 
It  was  an  unusually  cold  winter.  The  thermometer  fell  to  four- 
teen degrees  below  zero  and  the  snow  was  a  foot  or  more  deep 
on  the  ground.  I  mention  this  incident  both  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  some  of  the  hardships  that  officers  and  their  wives 
underwent  and  also  to  show  the  self-sacrifice  and  loyalty  and 
devotion  of  the  enlisted  men  in  an  emergency.  Doctor  Brown 


LITTLE  PILLS  77 

and  his  young  wife  were  on  their  way  to  Fort  Sill  where  he 
was  to  become  post  surgeon,  a  position  I  had  held  since  Doctor 
Forward  had  been  transferred  to  another  post,  and  they  were  at 
the  half-way  camp  between  Fort  Arbuckle  and  Fort  Sill  when  the 
storm  broke.  The  doctor's  wife  was  confined  there  and  the 
escort  accompanying  them  devoted  themselves  night  and  day 
to  making  the  camp  as  comfortable  as  possible,  getting  water, 
bringing  wood,  building  fires  and  cooking,  and  this  they  kept 
up  until  the  weather  moderated  and  Mrs.  Brown  was  sufficiently 
recovered  to  make  it  safe  for  her  to  travel.  As  the  result  of 
such  heroism  and  devotion  some  of  them  were  badly  frost  bitten, 
and  all  suffered  more  or  less.  I  removed  all  the  toes  except  one 
from  one  man's  feet — only  one  of  the  large  toes  being  left — and 
others  lost  a  finger  or  two  or  parts  of  fingers  and  were  otherwise 
frost  bitten.  In  these  cases  nature  sets  up  the  line  between  the 
healthy  and  dead  tissue  and  the  amputation  is  made  in  the 
healthy  part  and  far  enough  back  to  get  a  flap  sufficient  to  cover 
the  bone  if  possible. 

Mrs.  Brown  and  her  beautiful  baby  came  with  us  when  we 
left  the  post,  intending  to  quit  the  service.  She  to  visit  with 
friends  and  relatives  in  the  east. 

Another  interesting  occurrence  took  place  when  we  were 
still  in  camp  at  Fort  Sill.  This  was  the  loss  of  the  quarter- 
master's mules,  which  occurred  the  latter  part  of  the  winter. 
The  Indians — supposed  to  be — by  some  means  got  the  gate  of 
the  corral  open  and  with  the  leader  on  horseback  rushed  into 
the  corral  and  set  up  the  usual  yells  and  shouts  and  soon  had 
the  whole  bunch  of  140  mules  under  way  before  the  alarm  could 
be  given  and  the  cavalry  mounted  for  pursuit.  They  had  such  a 
start  that  they  could  not  be  followed  in  the  night,  it  being  very 
dark.  Different  commands  of  cavalry  were  sent  out  in  pursuit 
but  returned  in  a  few  days  empty-handed.  There  was  one  young 
officer  by  the  name  of  Harmon,  a  second  lieutenant  in  the  Tenth 
cavalry,  a  tall,  rather  good  looking  young  fellow  who  had  said  to 
some  officers  that  if  they  would  give  him  a  chance  he  would  like 
to  show  what  he  could  do.  I  think  he  finally  went  to  General 
Grierson  and  expressed  a  wish  to  try.  The  general  promptly 


78  LITTLE  PILLS 

gave  him  a  detachment  of  cavalry,  some  thirty  or  more  men, 
and  told  him  to  stay  as  long  as  he  liked,  but  to  bring  back  the 
mules  if  possible.  Nothing  was  heard  of  him  for  some  time 
but  finally  word  came  from  Fort  Arbuckle  that  Mr.  Harmon  had 
reported  there  with  a  bunch  of  horsethieves  and  that  most  of 
the  mules  were  then  on  their  way  back  to  Fort  Sill.  I  heard 
Mr.  Harmon  himself  tell  some  of  the  details  of  the  scout.  He 
had  got  on  the  trail  of  the  thieves — not  Indians  at  all — some- 
where south  of  Red  river  and  found  two  of  them  in  a  house  he 
went  to  at  night  for  information,  believing  he  was  close  to  their 
camp.  He  took  these  two  prisoners  and  waited  until  morning 
to  attack  the  camp.  The  ranchmen  where  they  had  stopped  and 
where  they  had  already  captured  two  of  the  thieves,  knew  the 
country  well  and  acted  as  guides.  Mr.  Harmon  and  he  had  ex- 
changed firearms  on  the  way,  he  taking  Mr.  Harmon's  pistol 
and  Mr.  Harmon  his  shotgun.  They  rode  along  the  bed  of  a 
little  stream  until  quite  near  their  camp.  Most  of  the  thieves 
were  still  in  bed  but  the  negro  cook  was  busy  about  the  fire. 
Mr.  Harmon's  horse  being  much  superior  to  anything  in  the 
command,  he  was  among  the  thieves  practically  alone.  He  shot 
and  wounded  one  of  the  men  with  the  second  barrel  of  his  shot- 
gun, and  commanded  them  all  to  throw  up  their  hands  or  he  would 
kill  the  last  one  of  them.  He  dropped  the  shotgun  and  reached 
for  his  pistols  but  of  course  they  were  gone.  However,  the 
thieves  stood  there  with  their  hands  up  until  the  command  came 
and  they  were  hand-cuffed  and  were  soon  ready  for  the  march 
to  Fort  Arbuckle,  the  nearest  military  post.  Not  more  than  a 
half  dozen  mules  had  been  disposed  of. 

The  sequel  to  this  story  was  interesting  to  me  for  it  caused 
me  a  trip  to  Fort  Arbuckle  and  back.  The  guardhouse  at  Fort 
Arbuckle  was  not  considered  safe  and  it  was  thought  best  to 
send  the  thieves  to  the  new  guardhouse  at  Fort  Sill  until  the 
law  could  take  its  course.  They  were  sent  under  a  guard  of 
colored  troops  commanded  by  a  sergeant  with  instructions  to  kill 
them  if  they  tried  to  escape.  The  guard  claimed  that  one  man 
made  a  break  for  the  brush,  but  the  prisoners  claimed  that  he 
did  nothing  of  the  kind,  anyway  one  of  them  was  badly  wounded 


LITTLE  PILLS  79 

and  was  taken  back  to  Fort  Arbuckle,  and  as  Doctor  Brewer,  the 
post  surgeon  was  sick  at  that  time  a  request  for  a  medical  offi- 
cer come  to  Fort  Arbuckle  and  cut  a  man's  leg  off  was  received 
at  Fort  Sill  and  I  was  ordered  on  that  duty.  Before  I  arrived  at 
Fort  Arbuckle,  Doctor  Brewer  considered  it  too  urgent  a  case 
to  be  delayed  any  longer,  and  although  hardly  able  to  handle  the 
knife,  he  had  amputated  the  leg  before  I  got  there.  I  remained 
a  few  days  until  the  doctor  was  sufficiently  recovered  to  attend 
to  the  medical  duties  of  the  post,  and  then  returned  to  Fort  Sill. 
I)  now  come  to  the  last  record  I  shall  make  of  service  at  this 
post  and  have  hesitated  about  mentioning  it  at  all,  and  do  so 
now  in  as  few  words  as  possible,  not  only  because  "there  are 
sorrows  too  sacred  to  be  babbled  to  the  world"  but  also  because 
they  pull  so  hard  on  the  heart  strings.  Our  little  boy  was 
scalded  to  death  at  this  camp.  The  negro  servant  had  set  a 
large  kettle  of  boiling  water  off  the  stove,  and  some  way  in  his 
play  he  fell  into  it.  We  laid  him  away  in  the  cemetery  on  the 
hillside  and  had  a  stone  covering  placed  over  his  grave,  to  mark 
the  place  where  his  little  scalded  body  lay. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

This  experience  with  the  little  prospect  of  promotion  in  the 
service  decided  us  on  our  desire  to  return  to  private  life,  and  I 
wrote  to  the  medical  director  of  the  department  expressing  my 
wishes  in  the  matter,  and  my  reasons  for  quitting  the  service, 
and  received  orders  to  report  at  the  headquarters  of  the  de- 
partment, Leavenworth,  Kansas. 

It  may  be  well  here  to  relate  an  experience  of  army  life 
that  occurred  at  Fort  Sill  after  we  had  left  the  post.  The  feel- 
ing of  apprehension  regarding  the  Indians  had  subsided  to  such 
an  extent  that  the  officers'  wives  would  take  outings  in  the 
ambulance,  and  it  became  in  time  considered  safe  to  go  to  the 
Washita  agency  and  make  purchases  and  return  the  same  day. 
Two  of  the  officers'  wives  had  made  the  trip  and  were  nearing 
the  head  of  Cache  creek  on  their  return,  when  they  saw  the  In- 
dians coming.  The  negro  driver  urged  the  mules  with  such  good 
effect  that  they  reached  the  timber  and  the  driver  escaped  but 
the  women  were  carried  away  to  the  mountains,  and  for  two 
weeks  were  subjected  to  all  the  brutal  horrors  to  be  expected 
of  savages  and  then  were  ransomed.  We  were  well  acquainted 
with  one  of  these  women  but  the  other  had  only  been  at  the 
post  a  short  time  before  we  left. 

I  think  few  of  the  people  of  our  country  today  realize  how 
recently  such  horrors  have  been  committed.  For  most  of  them 
it  is  a  matter  of  the  long  forgotten  past. 

We  left  Fort  Sill  about  the  middle  of  August,  1871  and  had 
for  company  Mrs.  Harmon,  wife  of  Lieutenant  Harmon,  who 
captured  the  horsethieves  and  Mrs.  Brown,  wife  of  the  post 
surgeon,  and  their  little  baby  and  nurse  girl.  We  had  an  escort 
of  a  half  dozen  men  under  command  of  a  sergeant  as  far  as 
Fort  Gibson,  Indian  Territory,  near  the  junction  of  the  Grand 
and  Arkansas  rivers,  and  from  there  to  the  end  of  the  railroad 
two  or  three  men  to  help  about  camp.  The  M.,  K.  and  T.  rail- 
road was  then  only  finished  to  Pryor's  creek  and  we  had  to  take 
a  freight  train  from  there  to  Chetopa,  Kansas,  the  end  of  the 


LITTLE  PILLS  81 

passenger  run.  We  camped  at  Steam's  ranch  the  first  night 
out  of  Fort  Sill.  As  we  were  starting  the  following  morning  we 
were  informed  that  a  dead  man  had  just  been  found  near  the 
road  we  were  to  take,  and  only  two  or  three  miles  away.  We  got 
some  tools  at  the  ranch  and  stopped  long  enough  to  bury  him. 
He  had  soldier's  clothes  on  and  had  probably  been  only  recently 
discharged  from  the  service.  A  little  money  was  found  in  his 
pocket  which  I  told  the  sergeant  to  take  and  on  his  return  to 
Fort  Sill  try  and  have  the  man  identified,  if  possible,  and  send 
the  money  to  his  friends.  He  had  not  been  dead  long  as  the 
wolves  had  not  disturbed  the  body. 

Our  night  camp  on  the  Washita  was  something  we  shall 
always  remember.  Before  it  got  dark  the  mosquitoes  had  made 
our  acquaintance  in  such  numbers  that  we  were  doubtful  of 
oui4  night's  rest,  but  we  had  the  tent  put  up  and  supper  over 
without  suffering  serious  loss  of  blood.  They  kept  coming  in 
greater  numbers  until  we  realized  that  the  first  were  only  in- 
stallments of  the  advance  guard,  and  by  bedtime  they  were 
almost  unbearable.  We  smudged  the  tent  to  drive  them  out  but 
only  succeeded  in  driving  out  the  little  nurse  girl  who  was  caring 
for  the  baby.  I  tried  my  usual  place  in  the  ambulance  for  a  nap 
but  could  not  sleep  and  heard  the  women  talking  in  the  tent 
until  toward  midnight  when  I  called  my  wife  and  told  her  that 
if  she  would  come  out  to  the  ambulance  I  would  try  and  keep  the 
mosquitoes  off  her  until  she  could  get  a  little  rest.  We  tried  that 
for  an  hour  but  had  to  acknowledge  our  defeat  and  we  still 
heard  the  other  women  talking  in  the  tent.  \  was  now  ready  to 
surrender,  so  called  the  sergeant  and  tqld  him  to  have  the 
ambulance  driver  hitch  up  and  we  would  get  out  of  there  and 
he  and  the  escort  could  come  on  when,  they  liked,  as  we  were 
than  away  from  danger  from  the  Indians.  We  drove  for  some 
time  after  daylight  and  found  a  beautiful  camp  ground  with 
fine  running  water  and  went  into  camp.  The  escort  was  not 
far  behind  us — they  had  also  met  with  defeat.  We  spent  that 
day  and  the  following  night  in  that  camp  and  had  a  good  rest. 
The  escort  had  brought  a  cub  bear  along  and  he  was  a  very 
amusing  rascal  although  a  cause  of  some  anxiety  to  the  women. 


82  LITTLE  PILLS 

This  day  after  we  had  sat  down  to  dinner  some  trash  fell  on  the 
table  and  looking  up  we  discovered  him  out  on  a  limb  above  us. 
The  women  thought  best  to  have  the  table  removed.  His  home 
while  on  the  road  was  in  the  feed  box  at  the  rear  of  the  wagon 
where  he  was  chained,  and  the  first  thing  when  released  was 
to  hunt  the  water  and  take  a  good  bath  and  then  he  was  ready 
to  investigate  everything  around  camp.  He  would  roam  around 
at  his  own  sweet  will  until  away  in  the  night  when  he  would 
return  to  his  box  where  we  always  found  him  in  the  morning. 
We  had  to  keep  the  commissary  supplies  well  protected,  for  he 
was  a  born  thief. 

We  had  a  good  supply  of  small  game  on  the  way  particularly 
turkeys  and  prairie  chickens.  We  found  the  young  turkeys  at 
this  season  of  the  year  to  be  unusually  fine. 

When  we  arrived  at  Oswego  my  wife  went  to  visit  friends 
in  the  country  and  I  went  on  to  the  department  headquarters 
at  Leavenworth  to  report.  When  I  got  there  the  medical  direc- 
tor was  anxious  that  I  should  remain  in  the  service  and  said 
that  he  would  give  me  a  good  post  and  suggested  Camp  Lime- 
stone in  Southeast  Kansas  in  what  was  then  known  as  the  Chero- 
kee neutral  lands,  about  thirty  miles  south  of  Fort  Scott.  It 
would  be  close  to  the  railroad  and  other  conveniences  and  com- 
forts of  civilization,  and  he  was  sure  I  would  like  it,  and  he 
hoped  there  would  be  an  examining  board  before  long  for  pro- 
motions and  I  had  better  consider  the  matter.  I  asked  for  two 
weeks  leave  of  absence  to  consider  his  proposition  which  was 
cheerfully  granted,  and  I  went  back  to  Iowa  and  looked  up  the 
prospects  and  in  ten  days  was  back  to  continue  in  the  service. 

My  wife  and  I  together  went  to  our  new  station  at  Camp 
Limestone  and  arrived  there  September  9th,  1871.  At  that  time 
the  railroad  was  finished  to  Baxter  Springs  but  there  had  been 
trouble  with  the  settlers  when  crossing  the  Cherokee  neutral 
lands,  an  area  embracing  Cherokee  and  Crawford  counties 
and  the  southern  tier  of  townships  in  Bourbon  county.  The 
land  had  been  sold  for  the  Indians  by  the  government  to  James 
F.  Joy,  representing  what  was  then  known  as  the  Kansas  City, 
Fort  Scott  and  Gulf  railroad.  The  settlers  thought  they  should 


LITTLE  PILLS  83 

have  the  right  to  homestead  the  land,  and  resisted  the  construc- 
tion of  the  railroad,  caught  and  whipped  the  engineers  and 
threatened  their  lives  and  burned  their  instruments,  the  result 
being  that  troops  were  sent  to  protect  the  purchasers  and  their 
employees  in  the  construction  of  the  road. 

There  were  three  camps  established  along  the  line  of  the 
railroad  on  these  lands,  one  at  Drywood,  one  at  Limstone  creek, 
and  one  near  Columbus,  and  occupied  by  one  company  at  each 
post.  Temporary  buildings  were  constructed  and  the  troops  made 
as  comfortable  as  possible  where  they  were  not  expected  to  re- 
main permanently.  Fort  Scott  was  the  headquarters,  General 
Neal  being  in  command,  but  there  was  a  company  commander  at 
each  camp.  We  arrived  late  in  the  afternoon  and  went  to  a 
house  close  by  and  remained  there  until  the  mail  messenger  from 
the  camp  should  return  and  report  our  arrival.  In  the  course 
of  an  hour  an  ambulance  came,  and  we  made  our  way  across 
country  to  camp  and  I  reported  to  Captain  Fenton  of  the  Sixth 
cavalry  in  command  of  the  camp,  and  we  remained  at  his  quar- 
ters over  night  and  had  our  own  quarters  ready  for  occupancy 
the  following  day.  The  country  was  fairly  well  settled  imme- 
diately around  the  camp  and  along  the  streams,  and  there  was 
a  schoolhouse  less  than  a  mile  away. 

Part  of  the  settlers  had  been  there  for  some  years  and  were 
getting  things  about  them  to  look  quite  home-like.  Fruit  trees 
grwing,  peach  trees  bearing,  and  hedge-fences  set  out,  and  while 
there  was  always  a  seeming  scarcity  of  money  and  farm  products 
brought  low  prices,  the  people  seemed  contented  and  hopeful. 
This  was  a  very  comfortable  contrast  with  our  experiences  among 
the  Indians.  Small  game,  particularly  quail  and  prairie  chickens 
were  plentiful,  and  wild  fowl  abundant  in  season.  There  being 
very  little  to  do  in  a  professional  way  I  had  plenty  of  time  to 
indulge  in  my  favorite  sport  with  dog  and  gun.  We  had  not 
been  at  that  camp  long  until  Captain  Fenton's  company  was 
replaced  by  another  company  of  which  Captain  (Brevet  Major) 
Upham  was  in  command  and  Mr.  Gordon,  first  lieutenant  and 
Mr.  Kerr,  just  recently  from  West  Point  was  second  lieutenant, 
and  this  company  remained  at  Fort  Limestone  during  my  service 


84  LITTLE  PILLS 

there,  and  until  the  spring  of  1873  when  all  the  camps  on  the 
neutral  lands  were  discontinued,  the  Supreme  Court  having  de- 
cided the  title  of  the  land  in  the  railroad  company. 

When  General  Neal  was  assigned  to  another  post,  Major 
Upham  took  his  place  at  Fort  Scott,  leaving  Mr.  Gordon  in  com- 
mand at  our  camp.  The  officers  of  the  different  camps  had 
transportation  or  yearly  passes  on  the  railroad  from  Fort  Scott 
to  Baxter  Springs  and  Fort  Scott  being  then  the  principal  town 
in  the  southeast  part  of  the  state  we  were  frequently  there 
to  make  purchases  or  for  any  purpose  our  wishes  might  suggest. 
We  boarded  the  train  at  a  place  called  Engleton,  since  chanf  ed 
to  Beulah  although  there  was  no  station  or  side-track  and  only 
one  house  close  by,  and  trains  only  stopped  on  signals  or  to  let 
off  passengers.  Take  it  altogether  it  was  very  much  like  living 
on  a  farm  in  a  new  country  that  was  fairly  well  settled,  but  we 
had  many  comforts  that  farmers  could  not  afford  and  did  not 
have  to  work  as  they  did  to  earn  a  living. 

Most  of  the  farmers  belonged  to  what  was  called  the  Set- 
tlers' League  and  those  of  them  who  did  not  belong  from  choice 
did  so  from  fear.  I  got  acquainted  with  a  number  who  felt  no 
way  in  sympathy  with  some  of  their  doings  such  as  burning 
bridges  and  other  unlawful  acts.  They  were  all  civil  enough  to 
the  officers  and  men  of  our  camp  and  quite  a  number  were  dis- 
posed to  be  friendly.  Some  of  them  had  contracted  their  land 
from  the  railroad  company  considering  their  investments,  which 
in  many  cases  embraced  good  improvements,  too  valuable  to 
take  chances  but  kept  their  contracts  a  secret.  I  frequently  took 
their  payments  to  the  land  offices  in  Fort  Scott,  they  preferring 
to  send  it  rather  than  go  themselves. 

Eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-two  was  a  bountiful  crop 
year  and  we  could  get  all  the  peaches  and  many  other  things  we 
needed  very  cheap.  The  quartermaster  contracted  his  corn  that 
year  at  14  cents  a  bushel  and  the  farmers  who  furnished  it  were 
greatly  pleased  at  getting  such  a  good  price  for  shelled  corn. 
Early  in  the  spring  of  the  year  I  received  orders  to  take  charge 
of  the  surgical  needs  of  the  camp  near  Columbus  and  to  make  a 
trip  three  times  each  week  and  as  much  oftener  as  I  though  it 


LITTLE  PILLS  85 

necessary.  This  I  could  do  and  return  to  my  own  camp  the  same 
day.  This  was  a  pleasant  duty  for  it  gave  me  more  to  do  and  I 
was  taken  to  and  from  the  railroad  in  the  ambulance  each  trip. 

Captain  Bennett  of  the  Fifth  infantry  was  the  commanding 
officer  at  Columbus,  a  dignified,  courteous,  soldierly  gentleman, 
to  whom  I  became  very  much  attached.  In  a  letter  from  Gen- 
eral Miles  he  speaks  of  Captain  Bennett  as  follows:  "Captain 
Bennett  who  was  in  command  of  the  camp  at  Columbus  was  a 
very  gallant  officer.  He  had  an  excellent  record  during  the 
Civil  war  and  went  with  the  regiment  to  Montana.  He  was  en- 
gaged in  several  Indian  campaigns  and  in  1879  was  killed  in  an 
engagement  with  hostile  Bannock  Indians  at  Clark's  Fork  of  the 
Yellowstone.  He  was  an  ideal  officer  and  one  of  the  many  heroes 
who  gave  his  life  in  protecting  the  homes  of  the  defenseless  set- 
tlers and  maintaining  the  supremacy  of  the  government."  This 
duty  continued  until  late  the  following  fall  when  another  sur- 
geon, Doctor  Gray,  was  sent  to  take  charge  of  that  camp. 

When  the  open  season  for  chicken  shooting  began  we  had 
frequent  visitors  who  were  fond  of  the  sport.  Major  Upham, 
commanding  at  Fort  Scott,  would  come  often  and  bring  friends 
from  Fort  Scott,  generally  Mr.  Drake  and  Mr.  McDonald  and 
sometimes  others,  to  spend  a  day  with  dog  and  gun.  Captain 
Butler  from  the  camp  on  Drywood  would  come  for  a  day.  Colonel 
Delancey  Floyd-Jones  of  the  Third  infantry  came  down  from 
Fort  Hayes  for  two  or  three  days,  and  brought  with  him  an 
excellent  setter  dog,  that  could  not  stand  the  heat  as  well  as  the 
pointers,  but  was  much  more  easily  controlled.  I  was  a  bit  amused 
at  his  experience  while  there.  When  asked  at  the  dinner  table 
the  first  day  if  he  would  be  helped  to  both  beef  and  chicken  he 
replied,  "No  beef  for  me  while  I'm  here,  I  can  get  all  the  beef 
I  want  at  Fort  Hayes,  I  came  down  here  to  eat  prairie  chicken." 
The  last  morning  he  was  there  I  said,  Well  Colonel,  how  is  it 
this  morning,  prairie  chicken  or  steak,  or  both?"  "Well,  he 
said,  I  believe  I  will  try  a  little  steak  this  morning."  He  went 
away  delighted  with  his  experience  and  promised  me  another 
visit  in  the  fall,  but  for  some  reason  we  did  not  see  him  again. 


86  LITTLE  PILLS 

He  was  a  fine  type  of  the  old  army  officer,  dignified,  courteous 
and  cordial. 

I  had  done  my  first  chicken  shooting  on  the  way  in  from 
Fort  Sill,  and  was  by  no  means  a  good  shot.  Mr.  Kerr,  the  young 
lieutenant,  who  was  stationed  here,  was  the  best  wing-shot  I 
have  ever  seen  on  the  sporting  field.  He  had  his  gun  made  to 
measure  and  although  he  was  six  feet  tall  and  finely  propor- 
tioned he  had  ordered  his  gun  to  be  only  6V&  pounds  in  weight. 
Up  to  that  time  I  had  thought  the  bigger  the  gun  the  more 
deadly  the  weapon.  I  found  I  had  a  good  deal  to  learn  about 
guns  and  show  to  shoot  them.  I  must  tell  you  about  one  of  my 
first  experiences  in  chicken-shooting  with  Mr.  Kerr.  I  happened 
to  see  one  on  the  ground  and  could  not  resist  the  temptation  and 
I  will  never  forget  the  disgusted  expression  on  his  face  as  he 
turned  to  me  and  said,  "For  God's  sake,  are  you  hungry."  That 
one  precipitation  cured  me  of  shooting  birds  on  the  ground,  un- 
less I  was  hungry.  Time  and  practice  finally  made  me  a  fairly 
creditable  shot  but  I  was  never  steady  in  the  field  or  at  the  trap. 
Mr.  Kerr  on  the  other  hand  was  always  steady  and  reliable.  I 
remember  one  day  just  before  Christmas  when  the  snow  was  sev- 
eral inches  deep  he  asked  me  to  count  out  one  hundred  loaded 
cartridges  for  him  while  he  attended  guard  mount.  The  ambu- 
lance was  at  the  door  and  he  started  promptly  when  guard 
mount  was  over.  He  brought  back  eighty-four  quail  and  nine 
loaded  cartridges.  Poor  old  Dick,  his  faithful  pointer  had  re- 
trieved them  all,  and  was  an  invalid  for  two  or  three  days  there- 
after. 

Mr.  Kerr's  quarters  and  ours  were  just  across  the  corner 
of  the  parade  ground  from  each  other,  his  facing  north  and  ours 
east,  and  he  was  at  our  house  a  great  deal,  especially  in  the 
evenings.  The  conversation  generally  turned  to  guns  and  their 
different  makes  and  merits;  to  dogs  and  their  different  breeds 
and  training;  the  loads  to  be  used  and  the  proper  proportion 
of  powder  and  shot.  All  these  things  were  discussed  until  we 
felt  we  were  authorities  on  the  subject  but  for  fear  we  might 
be  wrong  about  the  powder  and  shot,  we  experimented  to  find 
if  any  of  the  powder  left  the  gun-barrel  unburnt,  and  with  target 


LITTLE  PILLS  87 

we  settled  at  least  to  our  own  satisfaction,  the  amount  of  shot 
and  powder  to  be  used.  My  subsequent  hunting  experience  has 
not  materially  modified  our  conclusions.  In  those  days  we  used 
black  powder  and  loaded  our  own  shells,  the  smokeless  powder 
and  machine  loaded  shells  being  then  unknown. 

One  of  the  interesting  things  at  this  camp  that  year  was 
Mr.  Gordon's  company  garden,  some  four  or  five  acres  in  ex- 
tent with  everything  imaginable  planted  in  it.  The  company 
did  the  work  of  planting  and  cultivating  but  the  rabbits  did  a 
large  part  of  the  eating.  There  would  be  days  when  all  the 
company  would  be  out  shooting  rabbits  and  it  was  much  like 
the  picket  firing  I  had  become  familiar  with  in  the  volunteer 
service.  This  was  kept  up  until  the  rabbits  were  comparatively 
few  around  camp,  and  the  garden  produced  abundantly  and  was 
a  great  help  in  rounding  out  the  men's  rations.  One  of  the 
enlisted  men  was  an  expert  with  the  rifle  and  caught  many  of 
the  rabbits  on  the  run. 

While  here  I  had  an  opportunity  of  observing  for  the  first 
time  the  variableness  in  area  of  rainfall  at  different  seasons  of 
the  year.  The  latter  part  of  winter  and  early  spring  I  observed 
that  if  it  was  cloudy  or  raining  at  Fort  Scott,  it  was  the  same 
way  at  Columbus  fifty  miles  away  and  I  presume  over  a  much 
greater  area.  But  as  the  season  advanced,  I  would  find  it  rain- 
ing at  Limestone,  while  on  my  arrival  at  Columbus  the  weather 
would  be  clear  and  dry  only  twenty  miles  away.  Sometimes  a 
heavy  shower  would  fall  between  the  camps  and  both  camps 
would  be  dry.  This  was  a  surprise  to  me  because  I  had  not 
thought  of  it  before,  and  I  think  the  feeling  generally  is  if  it 
is  raining  where  you  happen  to  be,  it  is  raining  everywhere  else. 

Before  this  camp  was  abandoned  I  had  some  hospital  prop- 
erty on  hand  for  which  I  was  responsible,  and  that  had  ceased 
to  be  of  service,  and  I  had  applied  for  its  inspection  and  con- 
demnation. Soon  afterwards  Colonel  Nelson  A.  Miles  of  the 
Fifteenth  infantry  and  inspector  general  of  the  department  came 
and  condemned  the  property.  After  dinner  we  played  chess  un- 
til time  for  him  to  be  taken  to  the  northbound  train,  and  I  have 
often  wondered  since  that  time  if  he  remembers  victory  as  well 


88  LITTLE  PILLS 

as  I  do  defeat.  Since  then  he  became  a  distinguished  officer 
in  our  Indian  warfare  and  finally  attained  the  rank  of  lieutenant 
general  and  commander-in-chief  of  the  army. 

Most  of  the  officers  who  served  at  the  different  camps  on 
the  neutral  land  while  I  was  at  Limestone  have  since  died.  So 
far  as  I  know,  General  Kerr — the  Mr.  Kerr  of  our  camp  life 
there — and  myself  are  the  only  ones  remaining.  Mr.  Kerr  be- 
came a  captain  in  1885  and  was  wounded  in  the  assault  on  San 
Juan  ridge  July  1,  1898,  promoted  to  major  in  October,  1898,  was 
military  attache  at  Berlin  in  1900  to  1902,  promoted  to  colonel 
in  1903  and  to  brigadier  general  in  1908  and  retired  from  active 
service  in  1909  as  brigadier  general  in  the  United  States  Army. 
He  saw  much  Indian  fighting  on  the  frontier,  and  received  nu- 
merous medals  and  honorable  mention,  in  orders  from  different 
departments  and  army  headquarters.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  mention 
these  promotions  and)  orders)  commending  him  for  meritorious  con- 
duct for  as  a  young  man  good  things  were  expected  of  him  by 
his  friends.  He  is  still  living  and  it  must  be  a  great  comfort  to 
him  in  his  old  age  to  reflect  on  the  distinguished  and  valuable 
services  he  has  rendered  his  country. 

The  following  winter  the  Supreme  Court  rendered  its  de- 
cision in  the  case  involving  the  title  to  the  Cherokee  neutral 
lands  in  favor  of  the  railroads.  I  think  the  settlers  generally 
felt  that  the  decision  would  be  against  them  for  many  of  them 
sold  their  improvements  and  moved  away,  and  most  of  those 
remaining  contracted  their  land  from  the  railroad  companies. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Orders  came  the  latter  part  of  March  to  abandon  the  camp 
and  I  was  ordered  to  accompany  the  command  to  Fort  Gibson, 
Indian  Territory,  and  then  to  report  to  the  commanding  officer 
at  Fort  Garland,  Colorado,  for  assignment  to  duty.  From  Fort 
Gibson  I  returned  to  Camp  Limestone  for  my  wife  and  little 
girl  baby,  who  was  born  the  previous  November.  We  were  fur- 
nished tickets  by  the  railroad  as  far  as  Kansas  City,  but  when 
we  came  to  use  them  we  found  they  had  been  packed  with  our 
baggage  and  of  course  had  to  pay  car-fare.  We  went  over  the 
same  railroad  from  Kansas  City  as  the  one  I  had  first  taken 
in  crossing  the  plains  but  in  place  of  stopping  in  Kansas,  is  it 
did  then,  it  had  been  finished  to  Denver. 

There  was  a  narrow  guage  road  from  Denver  to  Pueblo. 
Its  passenger  train  was  at  the  depot  when  ours  pulled  in  and 
our  train  stopped  beside  it.  It  was  quite  a  curiosity  to  me.  It 
looked  so  very  small,  I  thought  of  it  as  a  toy  affair  and  won- 
dered if  we  could  make  any  headway  on  such  a  thing.  I  was 
surprised  and  much  gratified  to  soon  know  how  much  I  had  mis- 
calculated its  merits.  It  was  a  long  train  and  went  in  and  out 
among  the  canons  and  around  the  mountain  sides  in  an  amusing 
way  and  with  surprising  speed.  Maybe  we  would  look  out  and 
see  an  engine  coming  down  the  track  across  the  canon  from  us 
and  would  discover  it  to  be  our  own  engine  puttering  along  as 
though  pleased  with  its  job.  We  stayed  over  night  at  Pueblo 
and  in  the  morning  we  found  there  was  an  ambulance  to  take  us 
and  Major  Hartz  over  the  mountains  to  Fort  Garland.  The 
major  had  introduced  himself  the  previous  night  on  our  arrival 
from  Denver.  On  the  route  to  Garland  we  spent  the  night  at  the 
different  stage  stations  and  were  made  fairly  comfortable.  As 
we  neared  the  summit  of  Sangre  De  Cristo  Pass  (Blood  of  Christ) 
the  snow  was  very  deep  and  soft.  We  thought  it  too  much  of  a 
load  for  the  mules  and  so  the  major  and  I  concluded  to  walk.  It 
was  well  we  did  so,  for  the  mules  had  all  they  could  do  to  flounder 
through  it.  I  stood  the  walking  very  well  but  it  was  laborious 


90  LITTLE  PILLS 

work.  The  major  did  not  fare  so  well,  for  as  we  neared  the  top, 
which  is  about  eleven  thousand,  five  hundred  feet  above  sea  level, 
he  was  spitting  blood  and  having  difficulty  in  breathing.  The 
west  side  of  the  range  was  clear  of  snow  and  it  was  only  two 
or  three  miles  from  the  summit  to  Steam's  ranch,  where  we 
stayed  over  night,  and  by  morning  although  the  major  had  a 
restless  night  the  hemmorhage  had  stopped.  The  following  day 
we  drove  to  Fort  Garland  only  twenty  miles  away. 

Fort  Garland  is  situated  at  the  edge  of  the  foothills  just 
south  of  old  Baldy,  one  of  the  highest  peaks  of  the  Sangre  De 
Cristo  range.  It  was  a  pretty  location  overlooking  the  Rio 
Grande  valley  to  the  south  and  west  and  we  were  assigned  to 
comfortable  quarters. 

About  the  first  part  of  May  a  troop  of  cavalry  under  com- 
mand of  Major  Carraher  was  ordered  to  establish  a  camp  at  the 
junction  of  the  west  fork  with  the  main  stream  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  about  one  hundred  miles  west  and  a  little  north  of  the 
post,  and  I  was  assigned  to  duty  as  surgeon  of  the  command. 
This  camp  was  established  as  a  base  of  supplies  for  government 
surveyors  who  were  to  survey  the  San  Juan  Indian  reserva- 
tion. There  had  been  trouble  for  some  years  between  the  Ute 
Indians  and  prospectors  who  had  gone  into  their  reservation  and 
located  some  valuable  mines,  and  warfare  between  them  had  re- 
sulted in  the  government  buying  the  land  and  opening  it  to  set- 
tlers, and  this  survey  was  to  fix  the  boundaries  and  divide  the 
land  into  sections  and  cross  sections  so  legal  title  could  be 
given. 

The  surveyors  arrived  a  few  days  after  we  had  established 
camp.  A  Mr.  Prout  was  in  charge  of  the  party  and  they  stayed 
at  camp  several  days  to  establish  the  exact  latitude  and  longi- 
tude of  the  camp  as  a  base  from  which  to  make  additional  sur- 
veys. I  became  very  much  interested  in  this  work  and  they  ex- 
plained a  good  deal  of  it  to  me  but  I  was  surprised  at  the  time  it 
required  and  the  figuring  necessary.  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
watching  the  chronometer  and  calling  time  on  signal  from  the 
observer.  The  nights  were  clear  and  in  that  rare  atmosphere 
the  stars  shone  with  great  brilliancy. 


LITTLE  PILLS  91 

An  escort  accompanied  the  surveyors  in  their  work,  a  squad 
of  a  half  dozen  men  in  command  of  a  noncommissioned  officer, 
generally  a  sergeant,  and  each  week  these  were  relieved  by 
others  and  returned  to  camp.  There  was  practically  no  need 
for  a  surgeon  with  the  camp  that  summer,  the  only  two  cases 
in  the  hospital  being  a  man  who  was  blinded  by  a  premature 
shot  in  the  mines  and  my  pointer  dog  which  I  shot  on  one  of 
my  hunting  trips. 

The  country  along  the  Rio  Grande  was  unsettled,  there  being 
but  one  abandoned  log-house  between  Fort  Garland  and  Loma, 
now  called  Del  Norte,  a  Mexican  village  with  a  good  sprinking 
of  American  houses,  and  located  at  the  head  of  what  was  called 
the  San  Luis  valley.  The  log-house  was  dignified  by  the  name 
of  Alamoosa  and  was  our  camp-ground  and  half-way  place  be- 
tween Fort  Garland  and  our  summer  camp.  The  trip  was  gen- 
erally made  in  two  days  although  the  distance  was  nearly  one 
hundred  miles.  From  Loma  to  the  camp,  a  distance  of  some 
fifteen  miles,  the  mountains  sloped  gradually  to  the  river  and 
there  were  a  few  adobe  houses  occupied  by  Mexicans.  As  there 
was  very  little  to  do  I  spent  a  good  deal  of  time  hunting  and 
fishing.  Rainbow  trout  are  very  plentiful  in  the  river  for  here 
it  was  a  clear  rushing  mountain  stream  with  deep  pools  and  the 
water  was  cold  throughout  the  summer  from  melting  snows.  We 
had  fish  at  all  times  and  cooked  in  every  imaginable  way  until 
we  were  almost  sickened  at  the  thought  of  fish,  although  they 
were  always  pretty  to  look  at.  To  this  day  my  wife  does  not 
want  to  see  or  eat  fish.  All  kinds  of  game  were  abundant  but  I 
never  had  much  success  with  the  larger  varieties,  I  did  not  un- 
derstand deer  hunting  and  always  managed  it  the  wrong  way. 
I  did  not  know  anything  about  their  runways,  so  still  hunting 
was  not  practical  and  in  riding  over  the  mountains  they  saw  me 
before  I  saw  them  and  that  settled  the  matter.  I  tried  repeat- 
edly to  get  a  shot  at  an  elk  that  I  frequently  saw  on  his  favor- 
ite grazing  ground,  a  small  park  a  half  mile  or  more  away  near 
the  top  of  one  of  the  high  points  in  the  mountains,  but  with  all 
my  care,  and  calculating  the  direction  of  the  wind,  and  figuring 
on  the  best  way  of  approach,  he  would  always  scent  the  danger 


92  LITTLE  PILLS 

while  I  was  making  my  way  through  the  thicket  of  aspens  that 
surrounded  the  park  and  I  could  hear  the  keen  whistle-like  note 
and  hear  him  bounding  away  before  I  caught  sight  of  him. 

On  these  hunting  trips  I  rode  a  government  mule  that  Gen- 
eral Alexander,  the  post  commander  at  Fort  Garland,  had  given 
me  for  the  summer's  use,  and  who  spoke  of  him  with  great 
praise  as  an  exceptionally  good  saddle  animal.  He  was  said  to 
be  twenty-seven  years  old,  and  had  formerly  been  used  as  a  mes- 
senger mule  between  Fort  Garland  and  Taos  when  the  mail  was 
brought  to  the  post  from  the  latter  point.  I  suppose  he  had  been 
gray  at  one  time  but  now  he  was  white  from  age,  but  had  been 
well  cared  for  and  although  in  fine  condition,  had  been  retired 
from  actual  service.  I  found  him  all  that  he  was  recommended 
to  be,  and  with  an  additional  merit  that  he  was  not  afraid  of  a 
gun.  I  could  fire  from  the  saddle  and  he  would  not  flinch,  and 
because  of  this  exceptional  quality,  I  had  a  great  deal  of  sport 
shooting  jack-rabbits.  They  would  jump  up  and  run  away  fifty 
or  a  hundred  yards  and  sit  up  straight,  which  is  their  habit,  and 
I  would  aim  in  line  and  a  little  below  the  mark  and  as  the  mule 
would  inhale  it  would  raise  the  muzzle  of  the  rifle  and  by  pulling 
the  trigger  at  the  right  moment  I  was  sure  to  see  the  rabbit 
tumble  over.  I  never  had  much  chance  from  the  saddle  at  larger 
game.  The  color  of  the  mule  was  against  it,  and  I  was  not  a 
good  shot  with  the  rifle  at  moving  objects. 

I  became  much  attached  to  this  mule  for  his  exceptionally 
easy  gait  and  his  fine  disposition,  however,  he  played  me  a  bad 
trick  one  day  for  which  I  have  since  forgiven  him  because  of  my 
own  culpable  ignorance.  It  was  getting  late  and  I  was  out  of 
my  usual  hunting  range  when  I  saw  an  antelope  grazing  in  one 
of  the  many  beautiful  parks  to  be  found  in  the  mountains.  There 
was  a  small  ravine  down  the  center  of  this  park  near  which  I 
noticed  a  clump  of  willows  and  figured  that  if  I  could  approach 
from  behind  the  willows  I  could  get  a  good  shot.  My  scheme 
worked  all  right  and  I  got  up  within  range  and  fired.  To  my 
great  surprise  I  saw  the  shot  take  effect  on  the  hillside  beyond 
and  had  passed  over  the  antelope's  shoulders.  This  was  a  puzzle 
to  me  for  I  was  sure  I  had  taken  good  aim,  and  equally  sure 


LITTLE  PILLS  93 

that  I  did  not  have  the  "buck-ague."  The  antelope  ran  away 
and  stopped  and  looked  back  at  me  when  I  estimated  him  to  be 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  away.  I  made  a  careful  al- 
lowance for  the  distance  and  fired  at  the  shoulder  and  at  the 
report  of  the  gun  he  dropped  in  his  tracks  apparently  without 
a  struggle.  I  thought  a  little  strange  of  this,  for  I  had  aimed 
just  back  of  the  shoulders  and  supposed  he  would  at  least  make 
a  jump  or  two  and  struggle  some  after  falling.  Imagine  my  sur- 
prise when  I  found  his  neck  broken  just  back  of  his  ears,  a 
purely  accidental  shot.  I  went  back  to  my  mule,  which  by  the 
way  I  had  named  "Paddy  O'Rooney"  but  always  addressed  him 
by  his  given  name,  and  I  thought  I  would  put  the  antelope  on  him 
without  dressing  it  as  it  was  getting  late  and  I  wanted  to  find  a 
trail  down  to  the  valley.  I  found  that  Paddy  had  an  altogether 
different  view  of  the  matter,  for  he  had  no  desire  to  get  afcquaint- 
ed  with  the  dead  antelope.  There  was  no  timber  near  where  I 
could  tie  him  to  a  tree,  to  force  him  to  accept  the  load  and  so  a 
bright  idea  occurred  to  me.  I  have  done  a  good  many  foolish 
things  in  my  life,  but  I  think  nothing  quite  so  idiotic  as  this. 
i  decided  that  I  would  tie  the  end  of  the  lariat  rope  to  the  ante- 
lope's hind  legs,  the  other  end  being  fastened  around  Paddy's 
nneck  and  I  would  then  get  on  the  mule  and  pull  the  antelope 
up.  This  scheme  worked  pretty  well  at  least  part  way.  I  was 
in  the  saddle  and  my  gun  acrss  in  front  of  me  and  I  backed 
Paddy  up  toward  the  antelope,  wrapping  the  lariat  around  the 
horn  of  the  saddle  as  he  backed.  Paddy  would  look  back  and 
snort  a  little,  but  was  quite  gentle  until  I  attempted  to  raise 
the  antelope  up  to  me.  When  Paddy  saw  it  move  I  believe  he 
thought  the  thing  had  come  to  life  and  was  going  to  swallow 
him,  for  the  way  he  went  down  the  mountain  side  would  have 
shamed  John  Gilpin  and  his  foam  covered  horse.  I  tried  to  hold 
him  but  I  might  as  well  have  tried  to  hold  a  cyclone.  I  had 
been  raised  on  a  farm  and  helped  break  the  young  horses  to  ricfe 
and  work,  and  I  thought  I  could  hold  anything,  but  I  had  never 
been  on  a  scared  mule  before,  and  I  found  I  was  utterly  help- 
less. My  first  impulse  was  to  throw  away  my  gun  and  try  to 
get  off  and  let  the  mule  and  the  antelope  have  it  out  together  but 


94  LITTLE  PILLS 

the  lariat  was  across  my  right  thigh  and  I  could  not  get  away 
from  it.  I  believe  the  thing  following  him  added  to  his  terror, 
for  we  went  over  places  I  could  not  have  forced  him  over  in  his 
sane  condition.  I  went  over  the  track  of  our  runaway  race  a 
few  days  later  and  found  a  ledge  of  nearly  four  feet  in  height 
that  we  had  gone  over,  and  I  really  think  ft  would  have  been  the 
same  thing  to  Paddy  if  it  had  been  forty  feet  in  place  of  four. 
The  old  sayingi  "All's  well  that  ends  well"1  proved  true  in  this 
case.  The  lariat  rope  slipped  around  the  saddle  horn  caused 
by  the  jerking  of  the  antelope  as  it  bounded  along  and  choked 
Paddy  down  just  as  we  got  to  the  edge  of  the  timber.  I  hur- 
riedly dismounted  and  loosened  the  lariat  so  that  he  could  get 
his  breath  and  found  that  he  was  pretty  well  tuckered  out.  I 
tied  him  to  a  tree  and  then  went  back  to  examine  my  antelope. 
The  hirftl  and  fore-quarters  were  held  together  by  the  backbone 
and  a  strip  of  skin  along  the  belly  but  the  ribs  and  entrails  were 
gone.  Fortunately  we  had  stopped  near  a  trail  which  I  knew 
would  lead  down  to  the  valley,  although  I  had  never  been  over  it 
before.  When  I  tried  to  put  what  was  left  of  the  antelope  on 
Paddy's  back  he  again  rebelled.  I  then  tied  his  neck  up  against 
a  small  tree  and  wrapped  the  lariat  around  the  tree  and  his  neck 
until  he  could  not  buck,  but  in  his  struggles  he  lost  his  footing 
and  hung  himself.  I  cut  the  rope  as  quickly  as  I  could,  and  got 
him  on  his  feet  again  and  gave  him  a  little  more  freedom  the 
next  time  and  while  he  protested  most  vigorously,  I  finally  got 
my  antelope  securely  fastened  in  the  saddle  and  led  the  poor 
worn-out  mule  down  the  trail.  It  was  very  dark  by  this  time 
and  we  made  slow  progress  but  finally  reached  the  valley  and 
I  estimated  that  we  were  not  more  than  three  or  four  miles  from 
camp.  We  had  only  gone  a  short  distance  when  we  met  a  de- 
tachment of  cavalry  that  had  been  ordered  out  by  Major  Car- 
raher  in  search  of  me.  The  major  had  been  over  to  m^r  tent  two 
or  three  times  and  finding  I  was  not  there  became  uneasy,  think- 
ing I  might  have  met  with  some  accident,  or  the  Indians  might 
have  found  me.  We  arrived  in  camp  about  nine  or  ten  o'clock 
with  what  was  left  of  the  antelope,  a  very  tired  hunter  and  a 
very  tired  mule. 


LITTLE  PILLS  95 

The  following  day  I  tested  my  rifle  at  a  mark  and  found 
good  cause  for  my  wild  shooting  the  previous  day.  I  suppose  the 
front  sight  had  been  slightly  moved  by  striking  on  a  tree  or 
something  on  my  trip  before  I  found  the  antelope.  Paddy  and 
I  still  remained  good  friends  and  he  took  me  many  pleasant 
rides  through  the  mountains. 

With  the  latter  part  of  August  came  the  wing-shooting  of 
the  dusky  grouse  (Canace  of  the  Ornothologist)  a  large  slate- 
colored  bird,  some  larger  than  our  prairie  chickens  (Cupidonia 
Cupido).  The  young  birds  could  then  fly  strong  and  afforded 
great  sport.  My  observation  is  that  it  is  a  very  stupid  bird.  J 
have  seen  them  sit  on  the  limb  of  a  tree  until  knocked  off  after 
repeated  throwing  and  have  seen  them  sit  on  the  bare  ground 
apparently  thinking  they  were  hid,  until  I  have  walked  up  to 
within  ten  or  fifteen  feet  of  them,  before  they  would  take 
wing.  Until  well  grown  I  found  them  most  frequently  in  the 
open  parks  where  there  was  a  ravine  with  water  and  willows  and 
other  undergrowth,  and  more  or  less  grass  for  cover,  but  later 
in  the  season  they  took  to  the  large  timber.  So  far  as  my  ex- 
perience goes  they  are  the  best  table  bird  of  all  the  grouse 
family.  The  flesh  is  white  and  delicious.  Their  range  is  as.  high 
as  timber  line  in  the  summer  but  they  go  lower  as  the  season 
advances.  There  were  no  quail  at  this  altitude.  I  think  they 
do  not  go  so  high  and  I  saw  no  other  game  birds. 

There  was  a  bird  about  camp  called  the  "Nut-cracker"  and 
I  believe  in  some  places  known  as  "lark's  Crow"  (Nussifrage 
Columbrana)  that  for  a  nuisance  I  believe  could  not  be  equalled. 
In  action,  in  size  and  something  in  appearance  and  rasping  voice 
he  much  resembled  our  jays.  They  were  in  great  numbers  about 
our  camp  and  were  impudent  fellows  and  seemed  determined  to 
get  into  everything.  Mr.  H.  W.  Henshaw  was  with  us  that  sum- 
mer collecting  natural  history  specimens  for  the  Smithsonian 
Institute.  He  was  quite  anxious  to  find  the  nest  and  eggs  of 
this  bird.  I  supposed  from  their  abundance  this  would  be  a 
matter  requiring  little  effort,  but  I  found  I  was  mistaken.  I 
made  it  my  special  part  that  summer  to  locate  a  nest  of  these 
birds  and  was  constantly  on  the  lookout.  I  often  went  out  with 


96  LITTLE  PILLS 

Mr.  Henshaw  in  the  morning  when  he  would  start  on  his  day's 
round  but  generally  lost  out  after  the  first  hour.  He  was  an 
athlete  in  size  and  finely  proportioned  and  hardened  to  the  work 
by  constant  practice,  and  could  walk  the  legs  off  me  in  an  hour's 
travel.  I  would  then  strike  out  for  myself  but  was  always  look- 
ing for  the  Nut-cracker  and  trying  to  locate  his  nest.  One  day  I 
saw  him  fly  away  from  a  hole  some  fifteen  feet  up  in  an  old  tree 
stump,  the  limbs  having  fallen  away.  This  looked  encouraging  so 
I  climbed  up  and  found  a  nest  but  no  eggs.  I  reported  my  find 
to  Mr.  Henshaw  that  evening  and  he  was  pleased  with  the  pros- 
pects and  said  we  would  go  together  in  about  a  week,  and  by  that 
time  we  might  find  eggs  in  the  nest.  I  had  marked  the  place 
well  and  we  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  it.  Mr.  Henshaw  did  the 
climbing  this  time  and  thrust  his  hand  in  the  hole  but  found  no 
eggs.  "Wait  a  minute  though,"  he  said  and  thrust  his  hand 
down  in  the  hole  again,  but  brought  it  out  in  a  hurry  and  the 
blood  was  dripping  from  it.  He  suggested  I  make  a  forked  stick 
'such  as  every  boy  knows  who  has  ever  twisted  a  rabbit  out  of 
a  stone  wall  or  hollow  log,  and  he  twisted  the  thing  out  which 
proved  to  be  a  mountain  rat,  something  entirely  new  to  me.  It 
was  a  rat  in  every  way  I  had  known  them  but  had  a  bushy  tail 
like  a  squirrel.  We  took  it  to  camp  with  us  and  the  skin  went 
away  with  his  other  specimens  to  the  institute.  This  is  com- 
monly called  the  bushy-tailed  rat  but  is  designated  Neotoma 
Cinera  Orelestes  by  the  zoologist. 

Mr.  Henshaw  is  now  chief  of  the  biological  survey  in  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  to  whom  I  am  indebted 
for  many  agreeable  experiences  and  for  most  of  my  knowledge 
concerning  most  of  the  birds  and  animals  herein  mentioned.  His 
contributions  to  the  National  Geographical  Magazine  are  par- 
ticularly interesting  and  instructive.  The  rat  mentioned  is  also 
one  of  the  varieties  of  what  is  known  as  pack-rats.  They  con- 
struct a  nest  of  sticks  and  other  rubbish  found  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  if  near  a  house  may  carry  off  spoons  or  knives  or 
anything  that  attracts  their  attention.  There  is  a  smooth  tailed 
rat  belonging  to  this  genius  that  is  very  abundant  in  New  Mexico 


LITTLE  PILLS  97 

and  is  apt  to  leave  something  in  place  of  the  article  he  carries 
away,  and  on  that  account  is  often  called  the  swap-rat. 

General  Alexander  and  some  other  officers  from  the  post 
at  Fort  Garland  came  to  our  camp  the  latter  part  of  July.  Com- 
plaint had  been  made  by  cattlemen,  really  some  Englishmen  by 
the  name  of  Hamilton,  that  some  of  their  cattle  had  been  killed 
and  they  blamed  the  escort  that  accompanies  the  engineers  for 
their  death.  Mr.  Delaney,  who  came  with  the  general,  and  I 
were  detailed  to  go  to  Antelope  park,  where  the  ranch  was  lo- 
cated, and  investigate  the  matter.  The  general  and  some  other 
officers  accompanied  us  as  far  as  Wagon-wheel  Gap  and  with  a 
small  escort  we  continued  on  to  the  park,  the  general  and  other 
officers  returning  to  camp.  We  found  the  Hamilton  brothers 
very  cordial  and  hospitable.  We  talked  the  business  over  quite 
thoroughly  and  remained  until  near  midnight  before  returning 
to  our  camp  a  short  distance  away.  The  following  morning  we 
found  a  half-inch  or  more  of  ice  in  a  cup  that  had  been  left 
with  some  water  in  it  the  night  before,  rather  cool  weather  I 
thought  for  the  30th  of  July.  It  was  very  chilly  riding  for  the 
first  two  or  three  hours  in  the  morning,  but  the  sunshine  finally 
got  the  better  of  the  cold,  and  we  were  comfortable  for  the 
balance  of  the  day.  We  camped  at  Wagon-wheel  Gap  the  fol- 
lowing night  and  found  it  an  interesting  place,  although  there 
was  but  one  log  building  and  that  unoccupied,  in  the  place. 

The  river  here  makes  a  great  circular  bend  around  an  almost 
perpendicular  wall  of  rock  that  I  judged  to  be  about  a  half-mile 
high.  Across  the  river  from  this  was  a  beautiful  valley  sloping 
gradually  up  into  the  mountains  and  in  it  were  many  hot  springs 
varying  in  temperature  from  barely  tepid  to  boiling  hot. 

The  following  day  brought  us  back  to  our  summer  camp 
again.  Our  camp  here  was  beautifully  located  among  the  pines 
and  between  the  camp  and  bluff  there  was  a  pretty  little  lake 
which  had  been  made  by  turning  a  little  mountain  stream  into 
the  low  ground  between  the  camp  and  the  bluff.  The  officers' 
tents  were  in  line  facing  this  lake,  and  at  the  back  ground 
sloped  gradually  to  the  river  about  a  half-mile  away.  A  very  in- 
teresting 'nature  feature"  of  this  camp,  was  the  uniformity 


98  LITTLE  PILLS 

with  which  we  got  a  shower  of  rain  every  morning  during  July 
and  August,  and  we  got  into  the  habit  of  expecting  it  at  eleven 
o'clock  and  were  seldom  disappointed.  One  day,  August  17th,  the 
water  from  the  cloud  in  passing  over  became  congealed  and 
formed  snow-flakes  that  for  size  were  really  astonishing.  I  was 
on  my  way  to  Loma  on  my  faithful  mule  Paddy  OTlooney,  and 
when  it  came  it  shut  out  practically  everything  from  sight,  a  few 
yards  away,  and  lasted  probably  twenty  or  thirty  minutes.  About 
four  inches  of  snow  fell  in  that  time,  then  the  sun  came  out 
bright  and  warm,  and  it  seemed  to  go  away  almost  as  fast  as  it 
came.  On  my  way  back  to  camp  the  depressions  along  the  way 
were  flooded  and  by  night  only  the  spots  protected  by  ledges  of 
rock  or  dense  foliage  were  left.  With  all  these  pleasant  sur- 
roundings, and  nothing  to  do  but  fish  and  hunt,  life  became  a 
little  monotonous.  I  sometimes  wonder  if  people  will  get  tired  of 
golden  streets  and  heavenly  music. 

The  survey  being  ended  we  broke  camp  September  9th  and 
started  back  to  Fort  Garland.  Mr.  Prout  and  one  other  engineer, 
whose  name  I  cannot  now  recall,  accepted  commissions  in  the 
Egyptian  army  and  a  letter  received  some  months  later  assured 
me  it  was  not  a  very  comfortable  service. 

While  in  this  camp  my  wife  and  I  thought  one  day  it  would 
be  fine  to  take  an  outing  together,  so  the  ambulance  was  ordered 
and  she  and  our  little  baby  girl  and  nurse  girl  and  myself  and  the 
driver  made  up  the  party.  We  crossed  the  west  fork  of  the  Rio 
Grande  and  went  up  the  valley  for  some  distance.  The  west  fork 
is  smaller  than  the  main  stream,  with  many  pools  and  little 
rapids  and  hugs  close  to  the  north  side  of  the  valley  as  far  as 
we  went.  The  mountains  rose  abruptly  from  the  waters  and  at 
a  great  height  divided  into  peaks  and  spires,  pinnacles  and  dames, 
in  abandoned  confusion,  that  impressed  me  not  only  as  most  re- 
markable but  also  the  most  beautiful  combination  of  mountain 
scenery  I  had  ever  witnessed.  The  pools  were  especially  attrac- 
tive for  I  had  taken  my  tackle  with  me,  so  I  left  the  party  in 
charge  of  the  driver  and  started  out  for  some  good  sport.  I  did 
not  meet  with  the  ready  response  I  expected  from  the  fish,  and 
kept  going  on  up  stream  trying  one  pool  after  another  until  I 


LITTLE  PILLS  99 

'  was  quite  out  of  sight  of  the  ambulance  but  still  kept  going,  each 
pool  looking  more  inviting  than  the  one  just  passed.  I  finally 
came  to  an  unusually  large  pool,  deep  and  wide,  and  that  ran 
close  to  the  perpendicular  bluff  on  the  opposite  side.  I  had  made  a 
number  of  casts  when  a  voice  from  somewhere  called  out  "What 
luck?"  It  might  have  been  from  the  clouds  and  I  would  not 
have  been  more  surprised,  and  at  first  IJ  could  not  locate  it,  but 
looked  up  and  down  stream  and  back  over  the  valley  but  saw  no 
one.  Finally  just  across  from  me  on  a  big  block  of  rock  that 
had  become  detached  from  the  mountainside  and  in  plain  view 
sat  a  man.  His  clothing  was  so  near  the  color  of  the  rock  and 
he  sat  so  stalk  still  that  I  would  never  have  discovered  him  if 
he  had  not  made  the  inquiry.  Answering  I  said,  "Not  very 
good,"  but  some  way  I  was  so  startled  by  that  inquiry  seemingly 
coming  from  the  unknown  and  then  finding  a  real  man  where  of 
all  places  I  least  expected  him,  that  I  think  I  was  a  little  nervous 
about  it,  and  soon  lost  interest  in  fishing  and  returned  to  the 
ambulance.  He  had  evidently  been  watching  me  as  I  was  going 
up  stream  but  made  no  other  effort  for  closer  acquaintance  and 
I  left  him  with  that  one  response,  "Not  very  good." 


CHAPTER  X. 

A  few  days  after  returning  to  Fort  Garland  I  was  ordered 
to  report  to  Major  McClave  who  commanded  a  troop  of  cavalry 
and  was  camped  near  the  top  of  Sange  De  Cristo  pass.  The 
nights  were  cold  and  the  camp  was  in  every  way  an  unpleasant 
one.  We  only  remained  there  a  few  days  when  we  broke  camp 
and  went  down  the  Veta  pass.  The  Sangre  De  Cristo  and  Veta 
passes  joined  just  beyond  the  top  of  the  range  on  the  west  side. 
We  camped  near  La  Veta,  a  Mexican  village,  the  first  night.  In 
coming  down  La  Veta  pass  we  had  a  good  view  of  the  Spanish 
peaks,  a  name  I  remembered  in  connection  with  my  very  limited 
study  of  geography  when  a  lad,  and  which  for  some  reason  I  ex- 
pected to  be  grand  and  commanding.  After  spending  a  summer 
in  the  mountains  and  seeing  them  in  all  their  rugged  grandeur, 
the  peaks  looked  small  and  their  hay-stack  tops  were  disap- 
pointing. We  went  by  easy  marches  until  we  reached  a  point 
on  the  Purgatory  river  some  forty  miles  above  its  mouth  where 
we  remained  in  camp  about  a  month.  Our  camp  here  was  sev- 
eral thousand  feet  lower  than  the  one  near  Sangre  de  Cristo 
pass  and  was  in  a  fine  grove  of  large  cotton-wood  trees  and  by 
comparison  was  a  very  comfortable  place.  The  nights  were  a 
little  cool  but  the  days  were  delightfully  pleasant.  The  Purga- 
tory valley  was  practically  unsettled  in  those  days  except  near 
Trindad,  where  there  were  a  number  of  small  ranches  but  I  only 
remember  one  ranch  between  our  camp  and  the  mouth  of  the 
river.  While  in  this  camp  a  wind-storm  came  up  one  afternoon 
and  grew  in  volume  as  the  evening  advanced  but  we  felt  secure 
on  account  of  the  bluff  just  across  the  river  to  the  windward  of 
us.  However,  I  could  hear  it  among  the  tree  tops  before  drop- 
ping to  sleep,  and  I  wondered  if  it  could  do  any  arm.  When  I 
awoke  the  next  morning  the  ridge  pole  of  my  tent  was  broken, 
and  the  tent  crushed  in  by  some,  great  thing  extending  obliquely 
upward,  and  only  a  few  inches  above  my  chest.  I  hurried  out- 
side as  quickly  as  I  could  and  found  an  immense  dead  cotton- 


LITTLE  PILLS  101 

wood  tree  lying  across  my  tent  with  the  top  caught  in  the  forks 
of  another  tree  few  yards  away. 

I  found  both  Major  McClave  and  Mr.  Williams,  his  lieutenant, 
very  interesting  companions.  The  major  had  served  in  the 
ranks  before  the  war,  and  had  been  promoted  for  bravery  and 
efficiency  in  the  service.  He  was  a  thorough  soldier,  courteous 
and  considerate  to  everybody,  and  like  all  the  officers  I  met  from 
the  ranks,  was  very  devoted  to  his  men.  Mr.  Williams  was  a 
West  Point  graduate  and  an  accomplished  gentleman,  and  I  shall 
always  remember  my  experience  with  this  command  with  pleas- 
ure. Mr.  Williams  and  I  had  found  a  fine  bathing  pool  in  the 
river  and  had  frequent  occasions  to  enjoy  its  chilly  but  invigorat- 
ing qualities.  One  day  when  in  the  midst  of  our  bath  the  bugle 
call  for  "boots  and  saddles"  sounded.  We  hurried  from  the 
water,  dressed  and  got  to  camp  in  time  to  find  everything  ready 
to  move.  A  messenger  had  arrived  in  camp  bringing  word  of  an 
Indian  raid  and  the  killing  of  cattle  at  some  point  down  the  river 
toward  Las  Anamis.  We  kept  going  until  some  time  after  mid- 
night when  we  were  within  a  few  miles  of  Fort  Lyon  and  from 
there  the  major  and  I  took  the  ambulance  and  went  on  into 
Fort  Lyon  to  report  and  get  such  information  as  we  could,  and 
instructions  for  any  further  action  that  was  considered  neces- 
sary. We  got  back  to  our  camp  just  at  good  daylight  and  found 
Mr.  Williams  and  the  men  almost  ready  for  the  march.  After 
a  hurried  breakfast  we  were  soon  on  the  way  up  the  Arkansas 
Valley.  We  followed  this  valley  to  where  Wild  Horse  creek  enters 
the  river,  then  turned  up  that  creek  and  marched  until  near 
sundown  when  some  cattlemen  and  rangers  met  us  and  reported 
that  the  Indians  had  turned  east  and  would  probably  cross  the 
Arkansas  below  Fort  Lyon.  Right  here  it  is  just  as  well  to  say 
that  cavalry  stand  a  poor  show  to  overtake  a  band  of  Indians 
if  they  have  a  few  miles  the  start.  The  Indian  pony  does  not 
eat  corn;  the  cavalry  horses  must  have  it  or  at  least  some  kind 
of  grain.  Stop  and  unsaddle  your  Indian  pony,  lariat  him  out 
and  give  him  an  hour  to  rest  and  graze,  and  he  is  ready  for 
another  jaunt  of  a  half  day  or  more.  He  is  a  tough,  hardy  beast 
and  can  be  forced  to  keep  going  when  the  cavalry  horse  will 


102  LITTLE  PILLS 

simply  quit.  We  returned  slowly  to  Fort  Lyon  and  reported  to 
the  commanding  officer  for  instructions,  and  were  ordered  back 
to  Fort  Union  where  Major  McClave's  troop  of  cavalry  belonged, 
longed. 

There  was  nothing  of  special  interest  on  this  trip  although 
the  night  we  camped  at  Dick  Wooton's  there  was  a  heavy  snow 
and  the  major  spent  a  good  part  of  the  night  looking  after  the 
comfort  of  his  men  and  horses.  After  crossing  this  spur  of  the 
mountains  the  weather  was  pleasant  and  the  country  free  from 
snow  and  we  reached  Fort  Union  without  further  incident.  I 
returned  by  stage  to  Fort  Garland  and  arrived  at  that  post  the 
forepart  of  December  and  was  there  awaiting  orders  until  the 
18th.  The  weather  was  cold,  Fort  Garland  being  at  an  altitude 
of  about  seven  thousand  feet  above  sea  level,  and  it  was  com- 
fortable to  be  with  my  wife  and  little  girl,  and  in  good  quarters 
again. 

General  Kautz  had  taken  General  Alexander's  place  as  post 
commander,  but  Dr.  Happersett,  the  post  surgeon,  and  the  other 
officers  were  the  same  as  when  we  arrived  the  preceding  April. 
The  social  features  of  the  post  were  charming  and  I  hoped  it 
would  be  my  good  fortune  to  remain  there  during  the  winter, 
but  a  few  days  after  my  arrival  orders  came  for  me  to  report 
to  the  commanding  officer  at  Fort  Stanton,  New  Mexico,  for 
duty.  We  started  on  December  18th  and  the  thermometer  reg- 
istered eighteen  degrees  below  zero  that  morning.  We  were  well 
equipped  for  the  trip,  having  four  mules  to  the  ambulance  and  a 
six-mule  team  and  wagon  for  our  baggage.  The  question  may 
occur  to  some  of  my  readers  how  could  all  your  household  goods 
be  carried  in  one  wagon?  We  did  not  have  much  to  carry,  par- 
ticularly in  the  way  of  furniture.  The  quarters  at  the  different 
military  posts  were  furnished  by  the  quartermaster  with  stoves, 
tables,  bedsteads  and  all  kinds  of  furniture  that  would  be  cum- 
bersome to  move.  We  carried  folding  chairs,  carpets,  bedding 
and  numerous  liousehold  necessities  and  comforts  with  us,  but 
one  wagon  was  sufficient  for  this  purpose  in  addition  to  carrying 
grain  and  hay  for  the  mules  from  one  government  supply  station 
to  another.  On  most  of  the  routes  traveled  there  were  govern- 


LITTLE  PILLS  103 

merit  stations  where  grain  and  forage  were  kept  for  the  animals 
used  in  government  transportation.  We  started  early,  having 
forty  miles  to  make  that  day  to  reach  Conejos  (Jackrabbit)  the 
first  government  station  on  the  route.  We  heated  bricks  for 
our  feet  and  by  drawing  the  curtains  around  the  ambulance,  it 
was  made  quite  comfortable.  We  crossed  the  Rio  Grande  on 
the  ice  and  reached  Conejos  in  the  evening  and  had  a  very  com- 
fortable place  for  the  night.  We  remained  one  day  at  Canejos 
for  supplies  of  grain  and  hay  for  the  mules.  For  the  next  three 
days  and  two  nights  we  were  in  deep  snow  all  the  way,  and  of 
course  made  slow  progress,  and  the  escort  melted  snow  for  water 
for  ourselves  and  the  animals  during  this  time.  We  hoped  to 
reach  Sa?n  Juan  on  the  Rio  Grande  by  the  end  of  the  third  day, 
but  were  apprehensive,  for  we  knew  we  had  to  cross  the  Rio 
Chama,  a  stream  that  had  acquired  an  unenviable  reputation  be- 
cause of  its  quicksand.  We  reached  this  stream  just  at  dusk  of 
the  third  day  and  for  the  first  time  in  three  days  saw  the  friendly 
lamplights  at  a  Mexican  village  a  short  distance  above  the  ford. 
This  was  my  first  acquaintance  with  quicksand,  and  I  would  know 
better  now.  We  should  have  unfastened  the  mules  from  the 
wagon,  and  broken  the  ice,  which  was  not  strong  enough  to  hold 
them  up,  and  thus  made  the  way  clear  so  we  could  cross  without 
stopping.  To  stop  is  fatal.  In  place  of  doing  this,  we  expected 
the  mules  to  break  the  ice  as  they  went.  About  the  middle  of 
the  stream  was  a  sand-bar  only  slightly  covered  with  ice  and 
water  and  the  water  had  been  shallow  over  to  this  bar,  but  when 
the  mules  came  into  the  deep  water  beyond,  the  leaders  refused 
to  break  the  ice,  the  team  stopped,  and  the  wagon  gradually  set- 
tled down  until  the  running  gear  and  bed  rested  on  the  sand-bar. 
I  ordered  the  team  unhitched  and  the  ice  broken  so  we  could  get 
around  with  the  ambulance,  and  we  made  the  crossing  without 
difficulty.  It  was  then  quite  dark  and  I  decided  to  ask  for  a 
volunteer  to  remain  with  the  wagon  and  the  balance  of  us  would 
go  on  to  San  Juan. 

I  called  the  men  together,  and  asked  if  any  one  of  them 
would  volunteer  to  stay  with  the  wagon  over  night.  An  Irish- 
man stepped  out  and  said,  'Yis  Doctor,  I  will  stay  with  it."  It 


104  LITTLE  PILLS 

seems  to  me  that  in  a  case  like  this,  or  for  that  matter  in  any 
emergency,  one  can  always  depend  on  the  Irishman.  I  knew  his 
habits  at  the  post,  for  he  was  in  the  guardhouse  occasionally  for 
drunkenness,  so  I  said  to  him,  "Look  here,  this  is  not  an  easy 
job.  If  those  Mexicans  up  there  knew  this  wagon  was  in  here 
they  might  give  you  trouble,  and  if  they  found  you  drunk  they 
would  probably  kill  you  and  loot  the  wagon.  "Now  I  am  going  to 
leave  a  bottle  of  whiskey  with  you,  for  it  is  a  very  cold  night 
and  you  will  need  some  before  morning,  so  be  careful  and  do  not 
take  too  much  of  it.  Get  out  and  walk  when  you  get  too  cold  to 
sleep  but  don't  get  drunk  for  your  life  may  be  in  danger  if  you 
are  not  able  to  take  care  of  yourself."  "Yis  Sir,,  Doctor,  I  under- 
stand that  sir,  and  I  will  keep  sober,  sir,  and  I  will  take  care 
of  the  stuff  all  right,  sir."  We  left  him  there  and  the  balance 
of  the  escort  with  the  six  mule  team,  and  my  wife  and  baby  and 
I  in  the  ambulance,  started  on  to  San  Juan  some  six  miles  away. 
We  got  off  the  road  as  we  neared  the  station,  and  our  ambu- 
lance got  into  an  irrigation  ditch  and  turned  over  on  one  side, 
but  did  no  harm  and  we  soon  had  it  right  again,  and  after  some 
trouble  in  finding  a  road,  finally  reaching  San  Juan  about  mid- 
night. We  had  wandered  around  a  good  deal  in  trying  to  find 
the  road  again. 

The  following  day  the  escort  returned  to  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  found  the  Irishman  all  right  and  only  about  half  of  the 
whiskey  gone.  He  had  fully  merited  all  my  confidence.  They 
unloaded  the  wagon  and  slid  the  contents  across  the  river  on  the 
ice,  and  by  digging  and  prying  with  the  tools  they  had  taken 
from  the  station,  and  hitching  all  ten  mules  to  the  wagon,  they 
drew  it  out  the  quick-sand  and  across  the  river  and  arrived  at 
the  station  with  everything  in  good  shape  about  dark  that  eve- 
ning. The  morning  before  Christmas  my  wife  and  I  concluded 
to  ride  to  Santa  Fe  about  twenty  miles  away  for  breakfast.  It 
was  a  stinging  cold  morning,  and  we  had  to  go  over  a  little 
mountain  range  on  the  way,  but  the  roads  were  hard  and  smooth 
as  a  pavement,  and  we  made  the  trip  at  a  clipping  gait,  but  were 
thoroughly  chilled  by  the  time  we  reached  Santa  Fe.  There  was 
no  fire  in  our  room  and  I  went  to  the  landlord,  Alex  McDowell 


LITTLE  PILLS  105 

and  asked  him  to  send  us  something  to  warm  us  up.  In  a  few 
minutes  a  man  came  in  with  a  tray  and  glasses  and  something  he 
called  Tom-and-Jerry  and  hoped  we  would  like  it.  I  think  I  never 
tasted  anything  so  delicious,  and  I  believe  my  wife  appreciated 
it  as  much  as  I  did,  and  the  effect  was  marvelous.  We  were 
soon  warm  and  comfortable,  and  by  comparison  with  the  ex- 
perience of  the  past  few  days,  it  seemed  a  paradise  indeed.  This 
was  my  first  acquaintance  with  Tom-and-Jerry,  and  while  I  be- 
came better  acquainted  with  these  gentlemen  afterwards,  we  were 
never  very  cordial  friends  but  I  never  met  them  under  such 
favorable  conditions  as  on  the  morning  after  that  cold  ride  over 
the  mountains.  We  did  some  shopping  on  the  24th  and  remained 
over  Christmas  at  the  hotel.  The  morning  after  Christmas  we 
again  started  on  our  way  to  Fort  Stanton. 


CHAPTER  XL 

The  trip  from  Santa  Fe  to  Fort  Stanton  was  not  an  attrac- 
tive one.  There  was  not  much  snow  and  no  mountains  to  cross 
but  the  route  was  uninhabited  and  dreary,  consisting  of  alternate 
stretches  of  timber  and  alkali  lands,  until  we  neared  Fort  Stan- 
ton  when  the  timber  improved  in  quality,  and  the  country  gen- 
erally was  more  inviting.  We  reached  Fort  Stanton  on  the  sec- 
ond of  January  and  were  at  once  assigned  to  comfortable  quar- 
ters which  we  occupied  the  following  day  but  stayed  with  a 
brother  officer's  family  the  first  night.  I  found  Fort  Stanton  a 
very  desirable  post  at  which  to  serve.  Major  Clendenning  was 
in  command  and  Doctor  Fitch  was  post  surgeon  until  my  ar- 
rival. The  fort  and  military  reservation  were  beautifully  located 
on  what  was  then  the  Mescalero  Apache  reservation  in  the  White 
mountains,  El  Capitan  being  the  nearest  peak,  and  on  a  little 
stream  called  Rio  Bonito,  (pretty  little  river)  and  it  was  an  ex- 
ceptionally pretty  stream.  Anywhere  east  it  would  have  been 
called  a  creek  or  branch.  It  was  a  mountain  stream  of  clear 
cold  water  and  the  post  was  supplied  with  water  through  a  ditch 
taken  out  from  the  river  at  some  distance  above  the  post,  and 
carried  to  the  highest  point  on  the  parade  ground,  and  from  there 
distributed  each  way  around  the  parade  ground  and  then  taken 
to  the  corral  and  the  stables  lower  down  the  valley.  In  front 
of  each  officer's  quarters  a  barrel  was  sunk  in  the  ditch  to  a 
depth  where  the  water  would  almost  reach  the  top  of  the  staves 
a!nd  the  up  and  down  stream  sides  were  cut  away  as  low  as  the 
bottom  of  the  ditch,  thus  allowing  the  water  to  pass  through 
freely.  Small  trout  were  often  dipped  up  in  the  water  taken 
from  these  barrels.  Fort  Stanton  is  located  at  an  altitude  of  a 
little  over  six  thousand  feet  and  is  not  only  a  beautiful  location 
but  is  a  very  healthy  post.  I^t  was  abandoned  long  ago  as  a  mil- 
itary post  but  is  still  owned  by  the  government  and  used  as  a 
sanitarium  for  tuberculosis.  I  have  visited  it  since  it  was  con- 
verted in  to  a  sanitarium,  and  for  cleanliness  and  general  sani- 


LITTLE  PILLS  107 

tary  conditions  it  did  not  compare  with  the  post  when  used  for 
military  purposes. 

In  those  days  game  was  plentiful  in  the  mountains  and  the 
duck  shooting  along  the  pretty  little  river  was  exceptionally 
good. 

What  was  afterwards  known  as  the  Lincoln  County  War 
was  just  then  in  its  incipiency.  Considerable  shooting  was  done 
between  the  cattle  and  sheep  men,  and  the  death  of  a  sheep- 
herder — always  a  Mexican — or  a  cattleman,  was  of  frequent  oc- 
currence. Word  came  to  the  post  one  evening,  that  a  deputy 
sheriff  had  been  shot  while  attempting  to  settle  some  difficulty 
between  the  cattle  and  the  sheep  men,  and  a  surgeon  was  re- 
quested to  go  to  Lincoln,  the  county  seat  some  ten  miles  down 
the  valley  to  see  him.  Major  Clendenning  sent  for  me  and  ex- 
plained the  matter,  but  said  if  he  were  in  my  place  he  would 
not  go,  as  those  Mexicans  would  just  as  leave  take  a  shot  at  me 
as  anybody  else.  He  said,  however,  that  if  I  decided  to  go  I 
should  have  the  ambulance  and  any  help  I  needed.  I  decided  no 
help  was  necessary,  but  took  the  ambulance  and  driver  and  went 
to  Lincoln  that  night.  Mr.  Mills,  the  deputy  sheriff  who  had 
been  shot  had  a  half-brother  at  the  post  by  the  name  of  Stan- 
ley and  I  had  heard  the  story  of  one  of  their  shooting  experiences 
when  little  fellows.  They  were  practising  with  pistols  and  had 
become  so  expert  that  one  day  they  tried  the  experiment  of 
holding  something  out  in  one  hand  for  the  other  to  shoot  at, 
but  as  this  was  not  exciting  enough,  one  of  them  extended  his 
arm  and  pointed  out  his  index  finger  and  said  to  the  other: 
"See,  if  you  can  clip  the  end  of  that."  He  clipped  a  little  too 
much  for  I  had  seen  Stanley's  hand  and  the  finger  was  off  at  the 
first  joint  from  the  end.  "You  fool,  you,  you  took  too  much. 
Now  give  me  a  chance."  The  other  being  willing  to  play  fair, 
extended  his  finged  the  same  way  and  lost  the  same  amount  of 
finger.  This  was  the  story,  and  I  was  curious  to  see  Mr.  Mills 
hand  which  I  took  good  care  to  observe  while  dressing  his  wound 
and  found  it  almost  exactly  like  Stanley's.  Mr.  Mills'  wound 
was  by  a  shot  that  entered  near  the  heart,  struck  a  rib  and  did 


108  LITTLE  PILLS 

not  enter  the  plural  cavity,  but  followed  the  rib  around  and  came 
out  on  the  back  and  was  not  a  very  serious  wound. 

The  Sutler's  store  at  Fort  Stanton  was  up-stream  some  dis- 
tance and  just  around  the  point  of  a  little  canon  that  led  down 
to  the  river.  A  path  from  the  corner  of  the  parade  ground  led 
up  to  the  store  but  there  was  only  a  narrow  space  between  the 
point  of  the  canon  and  the  ditch  that  supplied  the  post  with 
water.  There  was  also  a  bridge  across  the  ditch  at  the  Sutler's 
store,  for  the  convenience  of  getting  in  and  taking  out  goods. 
One  dark  night  I  had  been  up  to  the  store  and  started  home, 
and  after  going  a  short  distance,  I  concluded  I  had  crossed  the 
ditch  on  the  bridge,  instead  of  going  along  the  narrow  strip  be- 
tween the  ditch  and  canon.  To  save  time  and  retracing  of  steps 
I  concluded  to  jum  into  the  ditch.  I  knew  it  was  wide  and  re- 
quired a  good  jump  but  I  found  that  instead  of  jumping  the 
ditch,  I  had  jumped  off  the  bluff  into  the  canon.  Fortunately 
it  had  been  made  a  dumping  ground  for  chips  and  trash  from  the 
wood-yard,  and  I  landed  on  this  trash  and  rolled  the  balance 
of  the  way  to  the  bottom  of  the  canon  among  the  rocks,  prob- 
ably twenty-five  or  thirty  feet.  My  first  thought  was  that  I  was 
seriously  hurt,  but  after  groaning  a  while  and  finding  no  bones 
broken,  I  got  up  and  felt  my  way  out  at  the  top  of  the  canon 
near  the  Sutler's  store.  I  was  very  sore  for  a  few  days  but  no 
serious  injuries  resulted. 

In  March  of  this  year  Captain  Fechet  (pronounced  Fe-sha, 
accent  on  the  last  syllable),  with  his  troop  of  cavalry,  was  or- 
dered to  go  over  on  the  Jornada  del  Muerto,  and  try  to  find  a 
shorter  route  across  that  desert  from  Fort  Stanton  to  Fort 
Selden,  and  I  was  sent  along.  We  took  the  usual  route  to  Fort 
McRae,  where  I  again  met  Dr.  Lyons,  the  post  surgeon,  whom  I 
had  visited  at  this  point  when  I  was  post  surgeon  at  Fort  Craig 
in  1869.  We  found  the  doctor  at  dinner  when  we  arrived.  The 
cloth  was  spread  at  one  end  of  the  table  and  just  beyond  the 
cloth,  at  the  farther  end,  was  a  human  skull,  with  the  neces- 
sary instruments,  which  the  doctor  had  been  dissecting.  It  struck 
me  as  a  rather  strange  mixture  of  diet  and  scientific  investiga- 
tion. It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  doctor  was  not  a 


LITTLE  PILLS  109 

married  man,  for  no  woman  would  stand  for  that  sort  of  table 
decoration,  but  would  probably  prefer  a  bunch  of  flowers  as  a 
center-piece  for  the  table.  Some  unfortunate  had  been  fished 
out  of  the  river,  and  no  relations  having  been  found,  the  body 
was  considered  of  service  for  a  better  knowledge  of  anatomy. 

From  Fort  McRae  we  went  to  the  Aleman,  or  as  it  was  better 
known,  Jack  Martin's,  where  we  stayed  over  night,  and  from 
there  we  went  to  Fort  Selden  and  remained  several  days.  While 
there  the  captain  and  I  made  a  trip  to  Las  Cruces  where  we  re- 
mained over  night,  and  had  a  very  pleasant  evening  with  some 
Catholic  priests,  where  we  were  cordially  received  and  enter- 
tained. On  our  return  to  Fort  Selden  we  again  took  up  the 
march  to  Fort  Stanton  but  did  not  leave  the  beaten  track  either 
going  or  coming.  We  had  taken  some  half-dozen  Mescalero 
Apache  Indians  along  with  us  as  guides  and  scouts,  but  I  could 
never  see  that  we  accomplished  anything  by  the  trip,  or  that 
we  made  any  effort  to  do  so. 

Along  about  the  first  of  April  I  received  a  suit  of  clothes 
from  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  that  I  had  ordered  the  previous 
September  upon  my  return  from  the  summer  camp  on  the  Rio 
Grande.  It  had  not  occurred  to  me  that  I  might  have  changed 
some  in  physique,  but  when  I  got  the  clothes  I  found  that  I 
could  only  wear  the  pants  by  putting  a  V-shape  in  the  back  of 
the  waistband  and  I  could  only  wear  the  vest  by  inserting  pieces 
below  the  arm-holes,  but  the  coat  was  entirely  too  small  to  be 
of  any  practical  service.  My  experience  in  the  mountains  had 
evidently  made  quite  a  different  type  of  man  out  of  me,  and  I 
should  have  had  my  measure  taken  again  before  sending  orders 
to  the  tailor. 

Soon  after  our  return  from  the  trip  to  find  a  new  route 
across  the  Jornada,  I  received  a  letter  from  Doctor  Lyons  ask- 
ing me  to  exchange  stations  with  him.  I  wrote  back  that  I  would 
make  the  change  if  he  would  make  the  application,  which  he  did, 
and  orders  soon  came  directing  the  change.  We  started  from 
Stanton  the  latter  part  of  April,  with  the  usual  ambulance,  and 
wagon  and  baggage,  and  an  escort  to  care  for  us  on  the  way. 
Between  the  White  mountains  and  the  lower  range  to  the  west 


110  LITTLE  PILLS 

is  quite  a  wide  valley  which  is  called  the  Malpais  (or  bad  coun- 
try) near  the  center  of  which  is  a  lava  flow  a  few  hundred  yards 
wide.  The  crater,  or  peak  from  which  it  came  is  not  in  the 
mountain  range  as  one  would  'naturally  suppose  it  to  be  but 
stands  out  near  the  middle  of  the  valley,  maybe  ten  miles  above 
where  we  crossed.  The  outlines  of  the  streams  are  quite  dis- 
tinct until  some  distance  below,  where  it  is  lost  in  a  great  white 
plain  of  alkali.  There  had  been  much  work  done  to  make  a  road 
across  this  lava  flow  passable  for  vehicles,  but  it  was  still  very 
rough  when  we  crossed  it,  so  much  so  that  my  wife  preferred  to 
walk,  and  nearly  wore  her  shoe  soles  out  in  doing  so.  When  did 
this  lava  flow  occur?  I  don't  know.  Maybe  ten  thousand  years 
ago,  but  it  looked  as  though  it  might  have  been  last  week. 

There  were  quite  a  number  of  little  cone-shaped  mounds 
in  this  valley,  and  I  examined  some  of  those  close  to  the  road. 
They  varied  in  size,  and  none  that  I  saw  were  more  than  ten  or 
twelve  feet  in  height,  and  they  all  had  craters,  containing  black- 
ish looking  water.  In  some  of  them  the  water  seemed  to  be 
higher  than  the  valley  in  which  they  were  located. 

We  camped  on  the  second  night  in  the  foothills  of  the  San 
Andres  range,  and  the  following  evening  at  the  Oho  De  Anija. 
These  springs  were  interesting  because  of  the  great  amount  of 
painted  and  broken  pottery  to  be  found  nearby.  I  think  some 
excavating  might  bring  to  light  whole  pieces  of  value  to  the 
archaeologist.  The  spring  is  located  only  a  few  miles  from 
Paraja  on  the  Rio  Grande,  and  at  the  extreme  northern  limit  of 
the  Jornada  del  Muerto,  and  the  next  day  we  arrived  at  Fort 
McRae. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

McRae  was  a  one  company  post,  and  located  on  a  little 
bench  of  land  at  the  side  of  the  canon  that  led  down  to  the  Rio 
Grande  from  the  Frau  Christobel  mountains.  There  were 
no  square  for  a  parade  ground  but  all  buildings  faced  toward  the 
canon,  of  which  at  this  point  was  not  abrupt  but  sloped  gradu- 
ally to  the  bottom. 

The  officers'  quarters  were  very  comfortable,  being  built  of 
heavy  adobe  walls,  and  covered  with  dirt,  consequently  were  warm 
in  winter  and  cool  in  summer.  The  rooms  were  large  and  had  the 
usual  jaspa  floors  common  to  the  military  posts  along  the  Rio 
Grande.  Government  blankets  are  first  laid  on  these  floors  and 
over  them  is  laid  the  carpet  and  both  are  nailed  down  with  lath 
or  shingle  nails,  with  leather  heads,  to  hold  the  carpet  in  place. 
There  was  a  fireplace  in  both  living  and  dining  rooms  and  water 
was  obtained  at  a  spring  in  the  canon,  a  short  distance  away. 
While  the  quarters  were  comfortable  the  outlook  and  surround- 
ings were  anything  but  attractive.  The  view  from  the  front 
porch  was  of  a  bleak  cactus  covered  ridge  across  the  canon,  and 
this  was  limited  in  extent  and  back  of  the  post  the  canon  rose 
abruptly  to  a  great  height.  Up  the  canon  was  the  barracks  of 
the  men,  and  farther  up  was  the  Sutler's  store.  Below  the  offi- 
cers' quarters,  was  the  quartermaster  and  commissary  store- 
houses and  corrals  and  stables. 

For  some  time  we  were  quite  reconciled  to  the  situation. 
Both  the  commanding  officer,  Captain  Farnsworth  and  his  lieu- 
tenant, a  Mr.  Carlton,  were  bachelors,  and  were  courteous  and 
pleasant  gentlemen.  They  did  not  remain  long,  how- 
ever, after  our  arrival  at  the  post,  but  were  superseded 
by  Captain  Kauffmann  and  Mr.  Fountain,  the  latter  a  West 
Pointer,  but  Captain  Kauffman  was  raised  from  the  ranks,  and 
to  me  never  seemed  to  fit  the  promoted  position  he  held.  Mr. 
Fountain  on  the  contrary,  I  thought,  gave  promise  of  becoming 
a  distinguished  officer.  Until  they  came,  my  wife  was  the  only 
officer's  wife  at  the  post,  and  with  the  addition  of  Mrs.  Kauffman 


112  LITTLE  PILLS 

it  could  hardly  be  considered  a  great  social  center.  We  made 
the  most  of  it,  however,  and  were  fairly  well  satisfied  with  our 
position. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  summer  we  attended  an  en- 
tertainment given  by  the  men  at  the  barracks,  and  our  little 
girl  caught  cold.  At  first  we  thought  it  only  a  temporary  ill- 
ness and  that  she  would  soon  be  better,  but  in  this  we  were  dis- 
appointed. She  gradually  lost  appetite  and  grew  weaker  and  I 
wrote  to  Dr.  Boughter,  post  surgeon  at  Fort  Craig,  requesting 
him  to  come  and  see  her,  which  he  did.  We  concluded  the  water 
at  the  post  was  bad  for  her,  as  it  was  strongly  impregnated  with 
alkali,  and  we  though  it  best  to  take  her  out  to  Jack  Martin's 
ranch,  where  we  knew  the  water  was  good.  Captain  Kauffman 
was  very  considerate  about  the  proposed  change,  and  we  agreed 
that  I  should  return  to  the  post  three  times  a  week  to  look 
after  any  who  needed  medical  attention.  This  trip  could  be 
made  in  one  day  on  horse-back,  the  distance  for  the  round  trip 
being  about  forty  miles.  We  got  out  there  the  latter  part  of 
July,  but  within  a  few  days  realized  more  fully  the  serious  na- 
ture of  our  little  daughter's  illness.  Dr.  Boughter  came  from 
Fort  Craig  to  see  her  but  could  give  us  no  encouragement. 

The  Scotch  are  a  superstitious  folk,  and  up  to  the  age  of 
fourteen  I  was  raised  in  an  atmosphere  of  superstition.  They 
had  signs  and  omens,  and  attributed  a  personality  to  everything, 
animate  and  inanimate.  While  they  denied  a  belief  in  spirits  and 
hob-goblins,  I  am  satisfied  these  things  influenced  their  lives. 
I  remember  two  old  crones  at  an  uncle's,  wizened  up  old  maids, 
that  I  think  were  no  relation,  but  just  lived  there,  who  used 
to  tell  us  little  ones  spook  and  ghost  stories  until  I  was  afraid 
to  go  to  bed  in  the  next  room,  or  out  of  doors  at  night.  It 
seemed  to  be  in  the  blood  and  Walter  Scott's  books  are  full  of  it. 
This  may  explain  in  a  way  my  hope  that  something  would 
happen  that  would  bring  our  little  one  back  to  health  again.  My 
frequent  trips  to  the  post  and  sitting  up  at  night  to  give  my  wife 
a  little  rest,  which  she  so  sorely  needed,  together  with  my 
anxiety,  had  probably  made  me  morbid,  for  one  day,  August 
14th,  as  I  remember,  I  was  on  my  way  to  the  post.  It  was  a 


LITTLE  PILLS  113 

very  hot  day  and  the  atmosphere  was  shimmering  with  radiated 
heat,  and  not  a  living  thing  was  to  be  seen  over  that  vast,  deso- 
late Jornada  del  Muerto,  except  maybe  a  lizard  scurrying  across 
the  road,  and  I  was  half-way  or  more  to  the  head  of  that  canon 
in  which  the  post  was  located,  when  a  little  grayish-brown  bird 
suddenly  appeared  from  somewhere,  and  fluttered  over  the  horses' 
head  just  out  of  reach  of  my  hand.  I  accepted  it  at  once  and 
without  question,  as  a  messenger  sent  to  me,  and  my  anxiety 
was  to  interpret  its  message.  I  tried  to  reach  it  with  my  hand, 
but  it  kept  just  out  of  reach,  and  presently  lit  in  the  road  in 
front.  I  immediately  got  off  my  horse,  and  taking  the  lariat 
rope  in  my  hand,  walked  up  to  it,  but  it  kept  moving  out  of 
the  way,  but  only  just  out  of  reach.  I  again  got  on  my  horse 
but  had  no  sooner  done  so,  than  it  came  back  again  and  flut- 
tered over  the  horse's  head.  From  there  it  flew  to  a  cactus 
bush  by  the  roadside,  and  I  got  off  my  horse  again  and  walked 
up  to  the  bush  and  took  my  canteen — no  one  travels  through 
such  a  country  without  a  canteen  of  water — and  holding  it  up 
over  the  bush  poured  out  a  little  stream  of  water.  The  bird  at 
once  gathered  from  the  leaves,  such  drops  as  lodged,  and  seemed 
greatly  delighted.  I  then  pressed  my  left  hand,  back  downward, 
into  the  sand,  and  holding  the  canteen  up  poured  a  little  stream 
of  water  into  the  palm  of  my  hand.  The  bird  at  once  left  its 
perch,  and  flew  down  and  lit  near  my  hand,  and  after  a  little 
debating  with  herself,  hopped  up  on  my  hand  and  drank,  and  at 
each  swallow  would  look  up  at  me  as  if  to  say,  'Oh,  I  am  so 
thankful."  I  was  greatly  comforted  and  got  on  my  horse  again 
feeling  that  my  hopes  would  be  realized,  and  that  I  would  find 
my  little  child  on  the  road  to  recovery,  upon  my  return  in  the 
evening.  I  had  only  gone  a  short  distance  when  the  little  bird 
again  flew  around  in  front  of  me  and  again  fluttered  its  wings 
just  out  of  reach  of  my  hand.  I  got  off  again  and  this  time 
did  not  take  the  lariat  rope  down,  but  merely  stepped  up  by  the 
horse's  head,  stooped  down  and  pressed  my  hand  in  the  sand  as 
before,  and  the  bird  did  not  hesitate,  but  came  at  once,  and  stood 
on  many  hand  and  drank  the  water,  and  when  its  thirst  was 
fully  satisfied  it  hopped  away,  and  I  got  on  my  horse  and  went 


114  LITTLE  PILLS 

on  to  the  post.    When  I  returned  that    evening  I  found  our  little 
child  no  better  and  she  died  that  night. 

A  messenger  was  sent  to  the  post  and  the  ambulance  came 
the  following  day  with  a  little  coffin  made  at  the  quartermaster's 
and  the  trip  back  to  the  post  was  to  us  indeed  the  "Journey  of 
Death."  Our  home  was  so  desolate  that  I  became  more  morbid 
than  ever,  and  was  soon  taken  down  with  typhoid  dysentery, 
and  Dr.  Boughter  came  from  the  Fort  Craig  to  wait  on  me.  My 
recovery  was  very  slow  and  I  was  indifferent  to  anything  that 
might  happen.  My  wife  at  last  became  discouraged  and  she  and 
Captain  Kauffman  talked  the  situation  over,  and  after  consulting 
Dr.  Boughter  concluded  to  have  me  taken  to  Fort  Craig  for 
treatment.  I  was  not  informed  of  their  conclusion,  and  when 
they  told  me  the  ambulance  was  at  the  door,  and  a  bed  in  it  and 
that  I  as  going  to  Fort  Craig,  it  did  not  even  interest  me.  If 
they  had  told  me  I  was  going  to  the  cemetery  I  would  have  been 
just  as  well  satisfied  with  the  arrangement,  although  they  thought 
I  would  be  interested  because  of  having  been  post  surgeon  there 
some  years  before.  After  I  was  at  Fort  Craig  a  few  days,  I 
began  to  take  some  interest  in  life  and  thought  I  would  like 
to  see  what  changes  had  been  made,  and  the  more  I  thought 
about  it,  the  more  interest  I  took  until  I  finally  wanted  to  see 
for  myself.  With  this  awakening  I  began  to  have  some  appetite 
for  food,  and  I  soon  began  to  gain  strength  and  as  I  improved 
I  wanted  to  cross  the  river  and  see  my  old  hunting  grounds.  All 
these  things  undoubtedly  contributed  to  my  recovery  for  I  soon 
made  rapid  progress  toward  good  health  again.  The  doctor  had 
given  us  his  quarters  to  occupy  while  there  and  there  were  hand- 
somely furnished  and  we  were  made  most  comfortable.  It  was 
then  the  latter  part  of  September  and  the  nights  were  cool  and 
the  .days  pleasant.  We  took  our  meals  at  the  officers"  mess  and 
had  good  things  to  eat,  and  I  shall  always  remember  how  delic- 
ious the  pigeon  squabs  were  to  me.  Before  returning  to  Fort 
McRae  the  doctor  and  I  planned  to  hunt  across  the  river.  One 
of  the  officers  had  a  gun  he  would  loan  us,  and  the  doctor  said 
the  blacksmith  had  one,  and  he  had  no  doubt  he  would  loan  it. 
I  preferred  going  for  it  myself,  as  I  wanted  to  see  the  shop  and 


LITTLE  PILLS  115 

house  close  to  the  bluff  where  the  blacksmith  lived.  The  black- 
smith was  very  well  pleased  to  loan  his  gun,  but  said  one  barrel 
was  loaded,  and  he  shot  it  off  and  handed  the  gun  to  me,  saying, 
"Now  it  is  all  right."  It  was  a  muzzle-loader  and  after  wiping 
it  out  carefully  at  the  doctor's  quarters  I  found  one  of  the  tubes 
were  stopped  up.  I  put  a  cap  on  the  tube  and  in  place  of  taking 
the  gun  out  of  doors,  or  pointing  it  in  the  fireplace,  I  merely 
turned  the  muzzle  down  toward  the  carpet  and  pulled  the  trigger. 
A  report  followed  that  astonished  the  doctor,  my  wife  and  my- 
self, who  were  all  taking  interest  in  the  preparation  for  the  hunt. 
The  shot  tore  through  the  carpet  and  into  the  jaspa  floor  and 
sent  the  plaster  flying  in  all  directions,  and  made  a  hole  in  the 
floor  big  enough  to  bury  a  small-sized  dog.  Another  instance  of 
where  the  gun  that  was  not  loaded,  did  serious  damage,  but  fortu- 
nately no  one  was  hurt. 

The  post  had  changed  very  little  since  I  was  there  five  years 
before  but  I  took  great  interest  in  seeing  everything.  Doctor 
Boughter  was  a  bachelor,  a  man  of  ability  in  his  profession,  an 
accomplished  gentleman,  and  a  friend  in  our  great  affliction. 

On  our  return  to  Fort  McRae,  while  I  felt  a  great  repugnance 
to  ever  seeing  the  place  again,  I  was  more  resigned  to  what  I 
considered  the  inevitable  that  is,  that  death  comes  to  everybody, 
is  one  of  nature's  laws,  and  is  the  culminating  process,  just  as 
birth  is  the  beginning  of  life.  When  we  reached  the  head  of  the 
canon  leading  down  to  the  post  I  was  able  to  look  upon  the  in- 
cident of  my  experience  with  the  little  bird,  from  a  very  different 
point  of  view. 

It  was  now  clear  enough  to  me,  that  there  was  nothing 
miraculous  or  unnatural  about  it,  but  that  for  some  cause  it  had 
simply  become  separated  from  the  flock  to  which  it  belonged,  for 
they  are  generally  found  in  flocks  along  with  cattle.  I  think  it 
was  the  female  and  may  have  gone  to  some  other  bird's  nest  to 
deposit  its  egg,  as  is  its  habit,  for  I  had  studied  it  closely  while 
drinking  out  of  my  hand,  and  recognized  it  as  one  of  the  cow- 
birds  or  buntings,  and  I  have  since  been  able  to  identify  it  as 
belonging  among  the  blackbirds  and  orioles  or  the  icteridae  of  the 
ornothologist,  its  special  division  being  Molothrus  Aster,  a  divis- 


116  LITTLE  PILLS 

ion  found  in  Texas  and  Southern  New  Mexico,  but  I  think  not 
much  farther  north.  The  sexes  are  difficult  to  distinguish  at  a 
distance,  differing  in  this  respect  from  their  near  relatives  far- 
ther north,  where  the  male  is  a  glossy  black  with  chocolate  col- 
ored head  and  neck.  Whatever  the  cause  may  have  been  this 
one  was  evidently  lost,  and  was  famishing  for  water,  and  recog- 
nized the  horse  as  a  friend,  and  in  no  way  could  have  considered 
me  in  that  relation,  it  came  to  my  hand  simply  and  only  as  a 
matter  of  necessity.  It  was  pleasant  to  relieve  the  thirst  of  the 
little  lost  bird,  but  I  shall  never  again  think  of  it  as  in  any  way 
supernatural.  ' 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Our  quarters  were  just  as  we  had  left  them  but  with  the 
added  feeling  of  desolation,  and  from  that  time  we  frequently 
discussed  the  question  of  leaving  the  service.  It  being  then  well 
toward  winter  we  deferred  it  until  spring,  and  we  spent  the  time 
until  then  performing  our  duties  in  a  perfunctory  way,  and  plan- 
ning and  rejecting  plans  as  we  made  them,  being  undecided 
where  to  locate.  I  spent  a  part  of  the  time  in  hunting  with  more 
or  less  success,  but  more  as  a  recreation  than  as  a  matter  of 
interest.  On  one  of  these  trips  I  killed  three  antelopes  with  two 
shots,  being  the  only  ones  seen  that  day.  I  managed  to  get  in 
good  range  and  when  the  first  one  fell  the  other  two  ran  together 
and  stood  looking  at  the  fallen  one.  They  stood  so  that  a  shot 
through  the  flank  of  one  would  hit  the  other  just  back  f  the 
shoulder.  I  dressed  the  first  one  and  got  it  on  the  horse  and 
found  the  second  some  two  hundred  yards  away,  but  by  the  time 
I  had  it  on  the  horse  it  was  too  dark  t  otrack  the  third.  Next 
morning  I  went  out  and  found  only  the  bones  and  some  pieces  of 
the  hide,  the  wolves  having  cared  for  the  rest  of  it.  On  another 
occasion  I  took  an  orderly  with  me  to  care  for  my  horse  in  case  I 
found  occasion  to  stalk  any  game,  but  when  we  got  into  a  valley 
which  was  the  customary  route  for  Indians  from  the  White 
mountains  on  the  east,  to  the  Magdalenas  west  of  the  river,  some 
horsemen  came  in  at  the  head  of  the  valley,  and  set  up  a  yell  and 
at  that  distance  we  took  them  for  Indians  and  did  not  wait 
for  a  closer  acquaintance  but  made  for  the  post  with  all  pos- 
sible speed. 

My  wife  visited  that  winter  at  Fort  Selden  with  Mrs.  Con- 
rad, wife  of  Lieutenant  Conrad,  who  was  quartermaster  at  Fort 
Stanton  when  we  were  there,  and  who  died  at  sea  on  his  way 
back  from  the  Spanish  war  in  Cuba. 

We  were  in  the  habit  at  Fort  McRae  of  trading  an  army 
ration  to  which  I  was  entitled,  in  addition  to  my  pay,  to  Mexi- 
cans for  vegetables,  eggs,  etc.,  or  paying  cash  as  the  occasion 
offered.  One  day  a  Mexican  brought  a  grain  sack  full  of  onions 


118  LITTLE  PILLS 

and  we  weighed  them  and  found  they  weighed  a  little  over 
forty-one  pounds.  I  agreed  to  pay  him  four  cents  a  pound,  but 
said  to  him  we  will  call  it  forty  pounds  and  allow  the  balance 
for  the  weight  of  the  sack.  He  could  not  speak  English  but  I 
could  talk  Spanish  enough  to  make  him  understand  and  he  would 
nod  his  head  and  say  "Bueno"  (Good)  but  when  I  counted  out 
the  money  he  did  not  seem  satisfied.  I  went  over  it  repeatedly 
showing  it  was  one  dollar  and  sixty  cents  and  he  would  nod  his 
head  and  say  'Bueno"  but  went  away  and  brought  another  Mex- 
ican with  him  who  understood  and  talked  English,  and  when 
he  heard  the  transaction  repeated  he  called  his  fellow  country- 
man a  fool  and  they  walked  away  together.  I  counted  the  on- 
ions after  they  had  gone,  and  there  were  just  twenty -four  of 
them.  I  like  to  tell  this  story  to  my  friends,  for  while  they 
smile  their  assent,  there  is  an  expression  on  their  faces  that 
it  at  least  suggestive.  Two  or  three  of  the  onions  that  I  meas- 
ured were  over  eighteen  inches  in  circumference.  These  onions 
were  raised  in  the  Rio  Grande  valley  and  were  as  crisp  as  celery, 
and  comparatively  free  from  the  characteristic  sting  of  the  or- 
dinary onion.  Eggs  were  fifty  cents  per  dozen  and  if  one  did 
not  need  any  today,  they  would  take  them  back  home,  and  per- 
haps bring  them  tomorrow  at  the  same  price,  but  would  not  take 
less.  We  paid  one  dollar  per  pound  for  butter  to  Mrs.  Jack 
Martin  who  sent  it  to  us  by  the  messenger  who  went  there 
for  our  mail,  and  it  was  very  choice  butter. 

At  the  Sutler's  store  one  day  I  was  introduced  to  a  Mr. 
Garcia,  a  youg  man  of  fine  appearance,  and  who  could  talk 
English  well,  who  had  returned  from  the  university  for  his  va- 
cation. I  found  him  very  interesting  and  intelligent,  and  while 
we  were  talking,  Mr.  Ayers,  the  post  trader,  brought  us  some 
native  wine  which  we  sipped  while  in  conversation.  He  belonged 
to  a  wealthy  family  of  Spanish  descent  and  was  quite  a  differ- 
ent type  from  the  ordinary  Mexican,  and  would  compare  favor- 
ably with  our  average  university  student.  After  he  had  gone 
Mr.  Ayers  told  me  his  name  in  full  was  "Hasoos  Christo  Garcia." 
I  spell  it  this  way  to  give  the  Spanish  pronunciation,  and  not  the 
Spanish  spelling.  In  the  middle  name  the  accent  is  on  the  first 


LITTLE  PILLS  119 

syllable.  In  English  the  name  would  be  Jesus  Christ  Garcia, 
and  this  is  not  mentioned  in  this  startling  way,  in  any  spirit  of 
irreverence,  for  a  name  that  is  held  sacred  over  a  great  part  of 
the  world,  but  is  done  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  differ- 
ence in  the  customs  of  different  countries.  Jesus  Christ  is  al- 
most as  common  a  given  name  among  the  Mexicans  as  James  or 
John  is  with  us. 

While  at  Fort  McRae  Mr.  Fountain  had  heard  of  a  beautiful 
place  on  the  Rio  Polomas,  a  little  stream  that  enters  the  Rio 
Grande  from  the  west  a  few  miles  below  the  post,  and  that  he 
thought  might  be  worth  investigating.  I  agreed  to  join  him  and 
we  had  a  few  troopers  detached  as  an  escort,  and  went  to  see  it. 
On  the  way  we  passed  through  the  little  Mexican  village  of 
Polomas,  where  a  Jew  had  established  a  business  and  who  had 
told  Mr.  Fountain  of  the  proposed  place  of  visit.  He  joined  us 
and  acted  as  guide  for  the  trip.  On  the  way  while  working  our 
way  through  a  thick  undergrowth  Mr.  Fountain  and  I  became 
separated  from  the  men  and  came  out  on  a  pretty  open  park  of  a 
few  acres  in  extent,  about  the  middle  of  which  was  an  immense 
cinnamon  bear,  apparently  waiting  to  see  what  caused  the  dis- 
turbance in  the  brush.  On  our  coming  into  the  open  he  took 
to  his  heels  and  we  followed,  the  men  having  joined  us,  and  firing 
our  pistols  and  shouting,  but  when  my  horse  caught  the  scent  of 
the  bear,  he  just  stopped  and  stood  there  trembling  with  fright, 
and  all  my  efforts  to  make  him  go  by  spurring  and  cuffing  him, 
were  unavailing.  I  could  not  move  him,  but  sat  there  and  awaited 
his  pleasure.  After  a  bit  he  began  to  move  cautiously  but  was 
much  frightened,  and  I  did  not  join  the  crowd  until  they  had 
chased  the  bear  into  the  rocks  at  the  foot  of  the  canon,  and  had 
returned  to  the  place  we  intended  to  visit.  It  was  a  beautiful 
place  indeed,  and  a  beautiful  stream  of  water  came  out  from  the 
side  of  the  bluff  some  twenty  feet  above  the  valley,  and  mean- 
andered  down  to  the  main  stream.  The  valley  was  not  wide  but 
impressed  both  Mr.  Fountain  and  myself,  as  a  desirable  place 
to  establish  a  ranch,  which  he  was  desirous  of  doing  for  a  brother 
he  wished  to  set  up  in  business.  I  agreed  to  join  him  in  the 
enterprise,  and  we  sent  for  a  Studebaker  wagon  and  the  neces- 


120  LITTLE  PILLS 

sary  implements  and  outfit  for  starting  a  ranch.  I  afterwards 
disposed  of  my  interest  to  Mr.  Fountain,  and  have  since  learned 
that  he  had  his  brother  come  out,  and  fitted  him  up  with  stock, 
etc.,  sufficient  for  a  start,  but  that  the  Indians  took  a  part  in 
the  affair;  destroyed  his  ranch  and  killed  his  cattle.  I  have 
since  then,  often  thought  of  it  as  a  desirable  place  for  a  cattle 
ranch. 

In  the  spring  of  1875,  there  having  been  no  medical  exam- 
ining board  ordered,  and  so  far  as  we  knew  no  prospect  of  one, 
we  fully  decided  to  try  our  lives  in  a  different  way,  and  made 
preparations  accordingly.  I  ordered  a  metallic  casket  for  the 
body  of  our  little  daughter,  believing  that  the  post  would  soon 
be  abandoned,  and  we  could  not  bear  the  idea  of  leaving  her  in 
that  wretched  place,  and  the  first  part  of  May  we  packed  such 
household  goods  as  we  thought  desirable  to  take  with  us,  only 
leaving  such  as  I  might  need  after  my  wife  should  start,  it  being 
by  intention  to  go  during  the  summer  or  early  fall.  My  wife 
started  about  the  middle  of  May  and  soon  afterwards  the  casket 
came,  and  the  captain  gave  me  a  detail  of  men  to  take  up  the 
body  of  our  little  girl  and  place  it  in  the  quartermaster's  store- 
house until  we  should  decide  where  to  have  it  shipped.  This  we 
were  to  do  after  I!  should  join  my  wife  and  decided  on  a  location 
for  a  home.  My  wife  had  gone  to  her  old  friend's  home  west  of 
Oswego,  Kansas,  where  she  had  stopped  on  a  previous  occasion 
when  we  thought  of  leaving  the  service.  On  application,  Doctor 
Lyon  returned  to  his  old  post  at  Fort  McRae  and  I  went  to  Stan- 
ton  in  July  ad  about  the  first  of  September  together  with  Mr. 
Clark,  who  was  going  on  leave  of  absence,  I  proceeded  to  the 
end  of  the  railroad  at  Las  Animas,  Colorado,  and  thence  to 
Leavenworth,  Kansas,  where  I  reported  to  the  medical  director  of 
the  department  and  left  the  service  October  30th,  1875. 

Upon  my  return  to  Fort  Stanton  from  Fort  McRae  I  found 
Mr.  Stanley,  the  one  who  had  his  finger  shot  off  when  a  boy,  was 
just  able  to  hobble  about  again  from  an  experience  he  had  with 
a  cannamon  bear.  He  had  gone  out  to  some  ranch  where  they 
were  losing  some  of  their  stock,  particularly  their  pigs,  by  what 
they  thought  to  be  a  bear,  and  Stanley  went  out  to  kill  it.  He 


LITTLE  PILLS  121 

was  an  excellent  shot,  was  fearless  and  deliberate  and  found  the 
bear  as  he  expected,  but  in  some  unaccountable  way  which  he 
could  not  explain,  he  failed  to  stop  it,  and  the  result  was  most 
disastrous  to  himself.  It  had  torn  one  side  of  his  face  away, 
and  had  broken  both  legs  and  one  arm,  before  leaving  him.  They 
found  him  the  next  day  and  brought  him  to  a  hospital  and  he 
was  able  to  get  around  on  crutches  when  I  saw  him,  but  would 
be  a  cripple  for  life.  The  ranchmen  went  out  and  finished  the 
bear,  but  it  was  found  he  had  nine  shots  through  his  body  be- 
fore giving  up  the  fight. 

The  military  reservation  at  Fort  Stanton  was  the  largest  of 
any  post  at  which  I  served,  and  is  located  as  before  mentioned 
on  what  was  then  known  as  the  Mescalero  Apache  Indian  reser- 
vation. These  Indians  were  considered  friendly,  and  so  far  as 
I  know  have  remained  so,  and  they  are  the  only  tribe  of  Indians 
of  which  I  have  acquaintance  who  cremate  their  dead.  I  was 
invited  one  day  to  go  with  the  hay  contractor,  who  intended 
making  the  rounds  of  his  various  hay  camps,  and  on  the  way  we 
passed  through  an  Indian  camp  not  far  from  the  post  at  which 
there  was  a  sick  Indian.  We  stopped  to  inquire  as  to  his  condi- 
tion. It  seems  that  a  day  or  so  before  they  had  gone  to  the  post 
for  medicine,  and  had  said  the  patient  was  suffering  great  pain, 
and  asked  for  some  physic.  The  post  surgeon,  a  Spaniard  by 
birth,  and  educated  abroad,  understood  the  term  pfiysic  in  its 
generic  sense  and  not  as  it  is  so  universally  used  by  us,  and  had 
sent  him  opiates,  when  a  cathartic  was  probably  indicated.  When 
we  saw  him  that  day,  which  we  did  from  our  saddles,  as  we  did 
not  dismount,  he  was  greatly  swollen  up,  and  when  we  passed 
the  same  neighborhood  a  few  days  afterwards,  the  Indian  had 
died  and  his  tent  and  all  his  belongings  including  a  pony  to  ride, 
had  been  burned  and  the  band  had  moved  across  the  river  and 
established  a  new  camp. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
(Social  Life  at  the  Military  Posts.) 

The  social  life  at  the  military  posts  on  the  frontier,  nearly 
a  half  century  ago,  was  necessarily  very  limited.  Except  at 
Fort  Sill,  I  served  at  no  post  at  which  more  than  two  companies 
of  troops  comprised  the  garrison,  and  even  in  these  cases  there 
was  not  always  the  full  complement  of  officers,  some  probably 
being  on  detached  service,  or  maybe  on  leave  of  absence.  As 
before  remarked,  Fort  McRae  was  only  a  one  company  post,  and 
at  no  time  were  there  more  than  three  officers,  and  there  were 
only  two  officers'  wives.  There  were  no  social  relations  outside 
of  the  post,  and  no  effort  or  disposition  to  form  acquaintances. 
The  nearest  military  post  was  fifty  or  more  miles  away,  and  the 
exception  to  the  usual  dull  routine  of  life  in  such  an  isolated 
place,  was  when  some  fellow  officer  happened  to  come  our 
way,  enroute  to  some  other  post,  maybe  for  assignment  to  duty 
or  maybe  on  detached  service.  Another  exception  was  when  the 
paymaster  made  his  appearance  to  pay  off  the  garrison,  which 
he  did  every  two  months.  These  were  always  enjoyable  oc- 
casions, and  we  would  sit  up  late  and  talk  about  everything  of 
interest  at  the  different  posts,  or  of  what  may  have  been  seen 
or  heard  on  the  way.  This  was  the  most  isolated  and  desolate 
of  all  the  posts  at  which  I  served.  It  was  about  twenty  miles 
from  the  southern  overland  stage  line,  and  we  had  to  send  a  mes- 
senger from  the  post  for  our  mail  which  we  did  three  times  a 
week.  Magazines  and  such  reading  matter  as  could  be  brought 
by  mail  helped  cheer  our  lonely  lives,  so  that  taken  altogether, 
it  was  a  good  deal  better  than  being  in  the  penitentiary. 

At  Fort  Garland,  though  only  two  companies  were  sta- 
tioned there  during  my  service  at  the  post,  there  were  about  the 
full  complement  of  officers,  several  of  whom  were  married,  and 
it  proved  to  be  un  unusually  pleasant  place  socially.  There  was 
no  formality,  and  so  far  as  I  know  this  was  true  at  all  the  mili- 
tary posts  on  the  frontier,  except  at  Fort  Craig  where  my  wife 


LITTLE  PILLS  123 

was  not  with  me,  but  on  the  contrary  there  was  a  feeling  of 
mutual  interest  and  sympathy  that  made  it  seem  like  one  family. 
We  would  meet  at  some  officer's  quarters  for  dinner  or  luncheon, 
and  maybe  at  some  other  officer's  quarters  in  the  evening  to 
play  a  social  game  of  cards,  and  the  officers'  wives  would  make 
informal  visits  with  each  other  and  maybe  spend  an  hour  or 
so,  very  much  as  if  they  were  sisters. 

Fort  Sill  was  one  of  the  largest  military  posts  in  the  service 
at  that  time,  and  there  were  twenty  or  more  officers  there,  prob- 
ably half  of  whom  were  married  and  had  their  families  with 
them.  It  will  be  readily  seen  that  this  made  quite  a  social  center. 

There  were  frequent  military  dances  or  "hops"  as  they  were 
called  in  the  service.  There  were  also  card  parties,  not  always 
by  invitation,  but  maybe  a  half-dozen  would  be  talking  together, 
and  would  decide  to  drop  into  some  officer's  quarters  for  a  game 
of  cards,  others  were  likely  to  drop  in  also,  so  that  sometimes 
there  would  be  quite  a  crowd  of  us  together  to  spend  the  evening. 
I  thought  the  informality  of  these  meetings  added  very  much 
to  their  charm. 

There  was  a  good  library  at  this  post  which  was  liberally 
patronized  by  the  officers  and  their  families,  and  also  by  the 
enlisted  men. 

A  jockey  club  was  formed  among  the  officers  and  a  race- 
course laid  out  on  the  flat  south  of  the  post,  and  race  meetings 
were  held  on  Saturday  afternoons,  which  afforded  a  great  deal 
of  pleasure  and  amusement.  In  one  of  these  races  which  was 
to  take  place  in  the  course  of  a  month,  it  was  agreed  that  each 
officer  should  ride  his  own  horse.  The  difference  in  the  weight 
of  the  riders  it  was  thought,  would  be  an  important  factor  in 
determining  the  results.  Major  Van  de  Weyle  weighed  one  hun- 
dred and  ninety  pounds  while  Mr.  Lebo  weighed  only  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  pounds.  They  all  had  good  horses  and  the  race 
was  looked  forward  to  with  great  interest.  The  major  was  jol- 
lied a  good  deal  about  his  weight,  but  he  insisted  that  he  would 
be  able  to  train  down,  and  he  would  show  them  what  his  horse, 
which  was  a  fine  one,  could  do.  The  race-course  was  a  mile  in 
length  and  it  was  supposed  the  heavyweights  would  stand  no 


124  LITTLE  PILLS 

show,  but  Captain  Walsh,  who  weighed  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  pounds,  won  the  race  and  Major  Van  de  Weyle,  who  had 
increased  six  pounds  in  weight,  came  in  fourth,  in  a  bunch  of 
seven,  who  started  in  the  race. 

In  addition  to  the  social  life  at  the  post,  the  fishing  and 
hunting  were  good  for  those  of  us  who  cared  to  indulge  in  that 
kind  of  sport.  Both  Medicine  Bluff  and  Cache  creeks  were  fine 
fishing  streams,  and  I  found  congenial  company  in  one  or  two 
of  the  officers  who  enjoyed  the  fishing  as  much  as  I  did  my- 
self. Among  those  most  pleasantly  remembered,  was  a  Mr. 
Pratt,  a  lieutenant  in  one  of  the  cavalry  companies  at  the  post 
He  was  an  expert  fisherman  and  a  cordial  good  fellow  and  I 
have  always  thought  of  our  fishing  trips  with  pleasure. 

After  we  left  Fort  Sill  he  was  detached  from  his  command 
and  put  in  charge  of  the  educational  interests  of  the  Indians. 

He  became  a  distinguished  officer  in  this  work.  When  still 
a  lieutenant  he  established  the  Indian  school  at  Carlisle,  Pa., 
a  well  known  industrial  school,  in  1879,  and  was  superintendent 
until  1904.  In  1916,  when  my  wife  and  I  were  on  our  golden 
wedding  trip  we  met  him  again  at  Nye  Beach,  Oregon,  and 
were  pleased  to  renew  our  acquaintance  after  more  than  forty- 
five  years. 

His  distinguished  services  raised  him  to  the  rank  of  briga- 
dier general,  and  he  is  now  on  the  retired  list  of  the  army. 

At  Camp  Limestone  there  were  three  officers  and  two  of- 
ficers' wives.  We  had  acquaintances  at  Fort  Scott  and  Girard, 
who  either  visited  us  or  made  the  customary  calls.  These,  with 
the  officers  and  others  who  came  in  the  shooting  season,  made 
up  the  social  features  of  the  camp. 

In  those  days  drinking  was  far  more  prevalent,  both  in  the 
army  and  out  of  it,  than  it  is  today.  1}  think  none  but  the  old 
people  of  today  can  have  the  correct  "view-point"  of  the  dif- 
ference in  which  the  use  of  alcoholic  beverages  was  considered 
fifty  years  ago  and  now.  At  that  time  it  was  not  considered 
harmful,  but  rather  commendable,  if  not  taken  to  excess,  as  a 
means  of  promoting  social  intercourse,  and  except  at  Fort  Sill 
it  was  to  be  had  at  all  the  post  trader's  stores  at  the  military 


LITTLE  PILLS  125 

posts  on  the  frontier,  and  at  most  of  them  it  was  on  the  side- 
board or  on  the  mantle  over  the  fire-place,  in  the  officers'  bil- 
liard room  free  to  those  who  cared  to  use  it.  Of  course,  even  in 
those  days,  there  were  those  who  talked  very  energetically  if 
not  violently  against  the  use  of  it  and  some  preachers  would 
even  tell  you  you  would  go  to  hell  if  you  drank  it.  But  people 
don't  scare  easily,  and  you  would  maybe  think  about  it  and  take 
another  drink,  concluding  that  maybe  there  is  no  hell,  or  if  there 
is  you  won't  go  there,  or  maybe  the  preacher  didn't  know  any- 
thing about  it  anyway.  Since  then  the  scientific  medical  man  has 
come  to  the  front.  He  does  not  try  to  scare  you,  but  he  has  some 
scientific  facts  which  he  has  fully  proven,  and  tells  you  about 
them,  among  these  are:  it  promotes  hardening  of  the  arteries 
(Arterio  Sclerosis) ;  it  produces  fatty  degeneration  and  other 
diseases  of  the  liver;  it  impairs  digestion;  it  interferes  with  the 
assimilation  of  food;  it  impairs  heart  acton,  and  has  many  other 
injurious  effects  on  the  system,  such  as  preparing  it  for  fatal 
results  in  pneumonia  and  most  of  the  acute  inflammatory  dis- 
eases. 

He  appeals  to  your  reason  in  place  of  to  your  fears,  and  you 
are  bound  to  take  notice.  The  result  is  a  vast  difference  in  pub- 
lic opinion  regarding  its  use  then  and  now. 

In  the  army  it  was  used  almost  exclusively  in  a  social  way. 
There  were  occasional  excesses,  but  these  were  not  of  frequent 
occurrence  and  there  was  one  restraining  influence;  the  fear  of 
court-martial. 

It  will  be  readily  understood  that  there  were  so-called  "black 
sheep"  in  the  army  as  well  as  in  the  churches,  and  in  the  fra- 
ternal orders.  In  the  army,  however,  there  was  no  hesitancy 
in  getting  rid  of  them,  a  thing  I  have  seldom  known  to  be  done 
either  in  the  churches  or  in  the  fraternal  orders,  and  this  was 
by  means  of  court-martial.  No  matter  what  the  specific  charges 
may  have  been,  there  is  generally,  if  not  always  added  this  one: 
"Conduct  unbecoming  an  officer  and  a  gentleman."  This  it  will 
be  readily  seen  covers  a  wide  range,  and  permits  thorough  in- 
vestigation of  character  and  the  very  terms  of  this  charge  in- 


126  LITTLE  PILLS 

dicates  not  only  the  high  character  that  is  expected,  but  that  is 
demanded  of  an  officer  in  the  service. 

I  had  been  in  the  army  nearly  seven  years  with  no  chance 
for  promotion,  and  while  feeling  some  doubt  as  to  my  success 
in  private  life  we  felt  it  to  be  the  best  thing  to  leave  the  service. 
We  decided  to  live  at  Girard,  Kansas,  and  came  to  this  place 
in  November  of  that  year. 

Two  things  have  particularly  impressed  me,  in  looking 
back  over  the  nearly  half  century  since  I  entered  the  service — 
one  is  the  amazing  development  of  the  west,  and  the  other  is  the 
wonderful  evolution  in  the  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery.  As 
an  example  of  the  first,  take  Kansas — not  because  it  is  Kansas, 
but  because  it  is  typical  of  the  great  west.  Population  in  1870, 
364,399;  in  1914,  1,677,106.  Wheat  crop  in  1871,  4,614,924  bush- 
els ;  in  1914,  180,925,885  bushels.  And  other  crops  in  proportion. 
The  western  half  of  the  state  was  then  practically  uninhabited. 
Today  it  is  the  great  wheat  belt  of  the  country. 

When  I  entered  the  service  people  died  wholesale  from  dipth- 
theria,  typhoid  fever  and  inflammation  of  the  bowels.  Bacter- 
iology, the  great  searchlight  of  medicine,  as  we  have  it  today, 
was  then  practically  unknown.  Today  we  innoculate  against  ty- 
phoid fever  and  are  immune.  Today  we  operate  for  appendi- 
citis and  inflammation  of  the  bowels  practically  disappears  from 
our  list  of  diseases.  Today  we  give  antitoxin  and  the  child's 
life  is  saved.  We  used  to  expect  pus  after  a  surgical  operation 
and  were  disappointed  if  we  did  not  get  a  so-called  "healthy 
pus."  Today  the  surgeon  would  be  ashamed  of  it. 

Both  before  leaving  the  army  and  since,  I  have  had  people 
refer  to  our  army  officers  and  their  families,  with  some  degree 
of  aspersion,  saying  they  were  too  proud  and  would  not  speak 
to  common  folk ;  that  they  were  aristocrats,  and  much  other  non- 
sense. Possibly  their  isolated  condition  when  I  was  in  the  serv- 
ice, gave  some  color  to  such  accusations,  but  as  far  as  I  can 
estimate  them,  if  they  are  an  aristocracy,  it  is  an  aristocracy  of 
merit ;  of  intellect ;  of  honor ;  of  integrity ;  of  loyalty ;  of  a  strong 
sense  of  duty  and  many  other  worthy  qualities  that  mark  them 
as  distinguished  from  any  other  kind  of  aristocracy  we  have  in 


LITTLE  PILLS  127 

this  country,  and  I  think  particularly  from  our  so-called  aris- 
tocracy of  wealth,  so  often  associated  with  snobbery,  and  whose 
daughters  so  often  present  the  nauseating  spectacle,  of  trading 
themselves  off  to  some  degenerate  and  profligate  descendant  of 
inherited  title  and  giving  a  million  to  boot. 

Just  now,  1918,  we  hear  a  great  deal  about  the  army  and 
the  necessity  of  increasing  its  numbers,  and  much  about  its  of- 
ficers, but  do  we  ever  hear  anything  about  the  officers'  wives? 
They  may  not  be  of  great  importance  now,  but  how  was  it  forty 
or  fifty  years  ago?  At  that  time  the  great  western  half  of  our 
country  was  practically  unsettled.  There  were  few  railroads,  and 
no  transcontinental  line  until  1869.  Denver  and  Santa  Fe  were 
considered  mere  trading  posts.  There  were  only  two  overland 
stage  lines  and  no  settlements  of  consequence.  The  military  posts 
were  scattered  over  this  vast  region,  separated  from  each  other 
by  many  miles  of  distance  and  the  ever  present  danger  of  attack 
from  Indians.  How  about  the  wives  of  the  army  officers  of  that 
day,  who  shared  with  their  husbands  the  dangers  and  hardships 
of  frontier  life  ?  I  wish  here  to  pay  my  tribute  to  one  who  shared 
with  me  all  of  the  sorrows,  and  most  of  the  hardships  herein  re- 
lated, and  many  others  not  considered  of  sufficient  importance 
to  mention.  One  who  seldom  complained;  whose  courage  never 
faltered;  whose  abiding  faith  often  prompted  her  to  say,  "It 
will  all  come  out  for  the  best  in  the  end." 

Thus,  we  have  traveled  along  life's  pathway,  with  its  joys 
and  sorrows,  until  now  we  realize  that  we  have  crossed  the  di- 
vide, and  are  going  down  the  western  slope.  The  shadows  are 
growing  longer,  the  valley  is  not  far  distant,  night  is  coming 
on,  it  will  soon  be  taps  and  the  lights  will  go  out. 


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